Boston College is a private Jesuit college located in Chestnut Hill, MA. We know, not Boston! But it’s like, right there. BC is a school that’s close to a big city, it’s got a strong campus and athletic culture and it (surprisingly) has no Greek life. BC didn’t publish acceptance data for last cycle, but we know their acceptance rate is around 15%, and their early acceptance rates are around 40%.
If you just got rejected from your ED school, applying ED2 can be nerve-wracking, and it’s no wonder it makes some people anxious. The pressure to commit to one school (again) and the nagging thought of “what if I get rejected?” (again) can cloud your judgment. But, if you’ve been rejected ED, you need to pick a good ED2 option because it’s the smartest choice you can make right now.
While miracles can happen in RD, we are pragmatists. You have a few weeks to set yourself up for success, and that can mean throwing out that last ED2 Hail Mary (they are a Catholic school and a football school so we think that reference is solid). Since BC is so competitive, we’re going to walk you through how to write their supplement so you have the best chance possible.
The Supplement
BC only requires you to write one supplement, but you have five options. Some we like more than others. Let’s get into it!
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.
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 one’s for our readers! Not like “readers of the blog” (well, kind of, since you are here), but for those of you who love to read. Some caveats with this one: if you’re just a YA reader, or are deep into #booktok, this is probably not the prompt for you. The success of this prompt lies in choosing an excellent text – you’d want to avoid any AP Lit required reading or anything crazy popular. Also, avoid anything super controversial (Jordan Peterson or Marxist theory will not be super popular here). It also needs to connect to you and have a strong “why.”
You want them to get to know you with this one. So think about what you want to sell them with this, is it your academic passions? Hobbies? Your values? To open this, set the scene by telling them a story about when you first read it and what it meant to you at the time. Then, go into the significance of this book, what it taught you, and what you think it might teach others.
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 probably our favorite one here since anyone can answer it – you might notice a lot of these prompts are really for specific groups of people, and this one’s the most universal. Most people have someone they can have a real, honest conversation with. If you choose to answer, write it like a dialogue—we want to hear both sides. What did you say? How did they respond? Keep in mind, though, there’s a 400-word limit, so don’t try to tackle a huge, loaded topic that’s hard to unpack in such a short space, so avoid extremely hot-button issues like abortion or the Middle East.
Get specific here. It could be you not understanding why a friend looooves a certain TV show or a debate about movie interpretations, it could be you talking to your dad about veganism, or debating the ethics of telling someone their baby is cute, even if it isn’t that cute. These conversations don’t need to be big, political takes—they just need to feel real and meaningful.
Now, don’t just make your conversation partner a one-sided strawman. This is a great opportunity to show complexity and explore the gray areas of a conversation. You don’t have to reach full agreement by the end, but we do want to see how your perspective—or theirs—has shifted. No one needs to be entirely right or wrong, but finding some common ground or fresh insight will make your essay stand out.
3. In her November 2019 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?
We don’t love questions that lead with a quotation. But whatever! This prompt is asking about assumptions around identity, and we’re gonna be real with you, if you’re like straight, white, cis, able-bodied, etc., please do not answer this one. The admissions officers do not want to read an essay about how you were misjudged for being a straight white guy.
Now, if this prompt does apply to you, you might feel tempted to write about a trauma here. A lot of students think they need to write about awful things that happen to them to get into college, and that is simply not the case. That kind of stuff might be better suited to additional information, and here you should instead focus on a small story. It may be hard to find a smaller, not wildly significant instance of being “defined by a single story,” which is why we don’t love this prompt. You could talk about a microaggression or defying a stereotype, maybe you stood up to a friend who made a problematic joke, etc. But you’re not solving big world issues or changing the hearts and minds of thousands, so try not to write it like that.
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 is another one where this really needs to apply to you as a person to be a good prompt for you. If you’re not already engaged in social issues or service at home, then this isn’t the prompt for you. It needs to be local – going too big will make it hard to answer in a meaningful way. That doesn’t mean you can’t link a local issue to something larger. You could talk about volunteering with the homeless and connect that to larger issues of poverty in the US, it just needs to be grounded in your actual experiences. Also, in a perfect world, your topic should connect to what you want to study or a future career goal.
They’re asking how you’ll use BC to address these issues, so this is where tying your topic to academic or personal goals will come in handy. If you’re studying business because of a passion for impact investing, or bio because you want to become a doctor, you can connect that to how you’d invest in local communities or trying to increase access to medical care for homeless people. Then, do some research. Find classes, professors, research opportunities, or campus initiatives at BC that align with your goals, and talk about why you like them. The more specific you are, the stronger your essay will be.
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?
This one is just for the engineering people, and it’s also the only one they can answer. So, hey engineers! What’s up!
This question is basically the same one as above, but about engineering. Our advice is the same: find a local issue you’re involved in, connect it to your goals, research things you’d want to do at BC, and connect it all together.
And that’s the supplement! BC is a competitive school, so you want to make sure the rest of your Common App essay is strong. We’ve got guides on everything—from the Common App essay to the activities section to the additional information section. We’re sorry you got rejected from your ED school, but that doesn’t mean you’re done with your college app journey. Applying ED2 is one of the smartest decisions you can make right now, and if you need help with your ED2 application to BC, don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to help!
Need help after an ED rejection? Reach out to us today.