Boston College Supplemental Essays 2025-26

Boston College Supplemental Essays

A private liberal arts college in the town of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Boston College is ranked among America’s top 50 colleges by U.S. News. This top school has secured a place on many college lists due to its urban location and world-class academics. If you’re wondering how to get into Boston College, a standout application starts with well-crafted Boston College supplemental essays. 

Successful Boston College applications feature strong Boston College essays — one, to be exact. Boston College supplemental essays respond to one of five Boston College essay prompts. We have provided the Boston College essay prompts for this year’s Boston College essays below.

Here, you’ll learn how to approach the Boston College essay prompts, plus some brainstorming exercises to help you get writing. We’ll also discuss additional tips for writing Boston College supplemental essays.

Given the low Boston College acceptance rate, you should do all you can to stand out. We hope this guide helps you learn how to approach the Boston College supplemental essays with confidence.

BC Admissions: Quick Facts

Please note that essay requirements are subject to change each admissions cycle, and portions of this article may have been written before the final publication of the most recent guidelines. For the most up-to-date information on essay requirements, check the university’s admissions website. 

Does Boston College require a supplemental essay?

Yes. Along with your Common App personal statement, you must complete one of five possible Boston College supplemental essays.

To complete the Boston College essays, you will select just one of several Boston College essay prompts. However, while you’ll only complete one supplementary essay, that doesn’t mean Boston College cares any less about your supplements. In fact, students’ responses to the Boston College essay prompts play a critical role in admissions decisions. 

Boston College admissions uses a holistic application review process. In other words, extracurriculars, academic achievements, and Boston College essays all impact a student’s admissions prospects. While the low Boston College acceptance rate might seem intimidating, well-crafted Boston College supplemental essays can make a huge difference.

The power of a single essay

The Boston College application isn’t necessarily easier just because there’s a single essay. After all, how hard was it to write your Common App personal statement? Even choosing one of the Boston College essay prompts can be challenging.

To start your writing process, think critically about the prompts available. Which of the Boston College essay prompts speaks to you? Moreover, can you write a compelling essay in response? Well-written Boston College supplemental essays come from carefully selected prompts. Students should write Boston College essays that reflect their most impactful moments of self-realization and personal growth. 

Not sure how to start writing your Boston College essays? Keep reading to learn more about Boston College admissions, including tips on how to approach Boston College essays and overcome the Boston College acceptance rate.

Take our quiz below to get a score on your college admissions readiness!

What are the Boston College essay prompts?

Students have options when it comes to the Boston College supplemental essays. There are five Boston College essay prompts to choose from for the 2025-2026 application cycle (400 words or less):

Choosing a prompt

Applicants will write two Boston College essays in their application: one school-specific supplemental essay and the Common App personal essay. Aside from applicants for the Human-Centered Engineering (HCE) major, all prospective students must decide which of the Boston College essay prompts to respond to. Students applying to the HCE major are required to respond to the last of the Boston College essay prompts.

The first step towards completing Boston College supplemental essays is to review each of the Boston College essay prompts. So, let’s examine the Boston College essay prompts and the questions you’ll need to answer in your response. We’ll also provide some reflection questions for each of the Boston College essay prompts. 

Refer to these questions as you’re drafting your Boston College essays. These prompt-specific reflection questions will help keep you on track as you draft and revise. 

Boston College Supplemental Essays: Prompt #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?

The first of the Boston College essay prompts asks you to reflect on and share an important tradition in your life. Beyond simply describing the tradition, you’ll need to touch on why it is important to you personally and how participating in this tradition impacts your community. Traditions for these Boston College supplemental essays can be anything — from something small like your family’s annual gingerbread house–building competition to something as large as a city-wide festival celebrating an important holiday.

Strong Boston College supplemental essays should use vivid, descriptive language. Try to drop your reader into the middle of your ceremony or event. What does the day look like? What feelings does the day bring up in you? However, don’t let your Boston College essays become all about the event. Infuse your own perspective into your essay, and be sure to articulate what this event has taught you or why you look forward to it.

Drafting your response

If you are having trouble coming up with a tradition, think of the question in reverse. What communities are you a part of? Make a list that includes your family and friends, as well as your religious, cultural, and activity-based communities. When does that community come together? Are there things you all do together every week, month, or year?

Remember, compelling Boston College supplemental essays don’t have to be about the most elaborate or historic traditions in the world. If it’s meaningful to you and brings members of your community closer to one another, then you have the beginning of a worthwhile essay. Just make sure you look beyond the “fun” of the tradition and explain its significance in your life and how it reflects your values or perspectives on the world.

Boston College Supplemental Essays: Prompt #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?

Boston College supplemental essays answering the second of the Boston College essay prompts must reflect on a specific conversation partner. The prompt is fairly open-ended, allowing you to explore any of your past conversations, so long as they are about something “profound.”

Strong Boston College supplemental essays demonstrate how their authors engage with the world around them and how they share that curiosity or passion with the people in their lives. A well-written response to this Boston College essay prompt will show how you supported or discussed your perspective, or how your perspective changed through a meaningful discussion. 

Choosing your topic

When considering who to write about, think about someone in your life who shares big, potentially difficult, discussions with you. Sure, you might love talking to your friend about your favorite TV show. But would you talk with them about the social problems that make your palms itch? In addition, think about what your discussions with this person say about your values, beliefs, and reasoning skills.

Keep in mind, good Boston College supplemental essays center around the author. (The same tip applies when considering any of the Boston College essay prompts.) Whoever you write about, don’t spend too much time describing that person. Rather, focus on the ideas you discuss, the dynamics of your conversation, and how it inspires your own reflection. Show the Boston College admissions team that you’re a critical thinker who engages deeply with those around you.

Boston College Supplemental Essays: Prompt #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?

The third of the Boston College supplemental essays may seem similar to other college essays you’ve encountered. It’s a unique spin on the diversity and culture essay. In the third of the Boston College essay prompts, students are asked to recall a moment in their lives when they’ve been boxed into a “single story.”

As the prompt mentions, students might discuss themes like nationality, appearance, or background. However, the term “single story” leaves things quite open-ended. Students could choose to respond using any instance in which they’ve been defined or judged by a certain label or visible aspect. 

Remember that like all of the other Boston College supplemental essays, your response should focus on you and your personal growth. So, while the moment itself is important, what’s more important is your learning from that experience. Successful responses to the third of the Boston College essay prompts will briefly describe the moment when the student was placed in a particular box. Then, they’ll focus on how the student reacted and moved forward from the situation. 

Preparing to respond

Additionally, it would be wise to actually watch this particular TED Talk if you choose to respond to this prompt. Your Boston College supplemental essays will benefit from inspiration. After watching the TED Talk, you’ll have a better understanding of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s main point. That way, you’ll know how to use Adichie’s ideas to contextualize your own experiences. 

Like some of the other Boston College essay prompts, this question asks you to show the Boston College admissions team that you think deeply and critically about yourself and the world around you. Effective Boston College supplemental essays should address how your own thinking and reflection changed based on the experience. How did being defined as a “single story” affect you? Try to make connections between your experience, your realization, and how it changed you.

Boston College Supplemental Essays: Prompt #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?

Boston College supplemental essays for the fourth of our Boston College essay prompts have to propose a core value you think should be added to BC’s mission. Instead of simply explaining what you’d contribute to campus, this prompt pushes you to think bigger and consider how you’d influence the BC community as a whole.

Since this prompt is about the BC community, it’s a great opportunity to touch on why you think BC is a good fit for you. Describe how your “fourth B” will complement or strengthen Boston College’s core values of being attentive, reflective, and loving. Consider connecting your chosen value to specific departments, learning styles, or aspects of the Boston College community that drew you to the school.

The best Boston College supplemental essays are both specific and personal, clearly articulating a point of view unique to the author. So, use this prompt to highlight what makes your perspective uniquely your own.

Keep it personal

Don’t get too hung up on describing Boston College or highlighting its offerings. At the end of the day, once again, effective Boston College supplemental essays are about the author. The value you discuss should help the Boston College admissions team learn something important about you. How will you engage with opportunities and communities on campus to embody this value?

Boston College Supplemental Essays: Prompt #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?

The fifth of the Boston College essay prompts asks about problems you are passionate about solving. Impactful Boston College supplemental essays focus on societal issues — in other words, conditions or behaviors with wide-reaching negative consequences. This might include poverty, racism, or climate change. Boston College supplemental essays should be genuine and passionate; choose an issue you’re really concerned about.

These Boston College supplemental essays should reflect, in specific terms, why this issue matters to you. As with all strong Boston college essays, give concrete reasoning and use specific examples. Moreover, make sure to tie your argument to your own experiences or values. Readers of these Boston College supplemental essays should understand exactly why and how deeply the author cares.

Do your research

The last of the Boston College essay prompts asks how your HCE education will help you solve these issues. These Boston College essays, therefore, share some qualities with a “Why Boston College” essay.

So, do your research. Check out the HCE Program page to learn about the structure, curriculum, and unique features HCE offers students. What puts this program over other colleges on your list? Remember, applicants outside of Human-Centered Engineering applicants should answer other Boston College essay prompts.

By integrating specific facts about Boston College’s HCE program into your response, you can show the Boston College admissions team you’ve done your research. This can give your Boston College application an edge, especially given the low Boston College acceptance rate. 

Selecting a prompt & drafting your Boston College essay

So, after reading the Boston College essay prompts, it’s time to choose. Which one speaks to you? Of the Boston College essay prompts, yours should best showcase you and why you’re a good fit at Boston College. If you’re stuck between several Boston College essay prompts, you might try your hand at a ten-minute free-write.

You should also highlight why Boston College is a good fit for you. Why is it on your college list? At the end of the day, you’re the one who’ll ultimately accept an offer and attend. Why do you feel Boston College is a place you want to be? Whichever one of the Boston College essay prompts you select, ensure you can answer every part of it. 

Starting the writing process

Once you’ve read the Boston College essay prompts and selected yours, it’s time to start writing. Sitting down and writing your first draft is the hardest part. So, don’t worry about making your Boston College supplemental essays perfect — just focus on getting words on paper. In fact, you might draft several Boston College supplemental essays for different Boston College essay prompts. That’s fine, too!

Start by addressing the big ideas, then go back and make sure you’ve answered the Boston College essay prompts entirely. Then, you can start fine-tuning your Boston College supplemental essays. Review each paragraph — does every part of your Boston College essays connect to you, your worldview, or your beliefs? Remember, effective Boston College supplemental essays put the author and their passions or interests at the center.

Last, but certainly not least, make time to review your Boston College essays thoroughly. Do you have any spelling or grammar mistakes that might distract your reader from the content of your essay? Do you have any logical errors or awkward turns of phrase? Revising — not just drafting — is the key to impactful, unique Boston College supplemental essays. So, the more your revise, the stronger your essays will be. You can also ask a trusted adult to help review your essay.

How do I write the Boston College supplemental essay?

Boston College supplemental essays show Boston College admissions what kind of student you are and what kind you can become. Moreover, the low Boston College acceptance rate makes standout Boston College supplemental essays even more important. However, don’t let the Boston College acceptance rate scare you. Just as there isn’t one formula to impress Boston College admissions, there isn’t one correct way to write Boston College supplemental essays.

Before beginning your Boston College application, consider experiences that have shaped who you are and how you see the world. Reflect on your accomplishments, the challenges you’ve faced, your successes, and your failures. While the low Boston College acceptance rate might seem discouraging, you can create a Boston College application that stands out.

Getting started

Before tackling Boston College essays, brainstorm two lists: things that are and aren’t reflected on your Boston College application. Experiences related to your classes or extracurriculars will be on your transcript or activities section. These can go under “Things reflected in my application.” If you’ve already written your personal statement for the Common App, put that topic in this list, too. Put other experiences regarding your family, your beliefs, or anything else under “Things that are not reflected in my application.”

Boston College essays that introduce new topics should be very clear about why these topics matter matter. As always, give discrete details about Boston College that are relevant to whichever of the Boston College prompts you chose. At the same time, don’t just throw course names and faculty titles around without context. Instead, relate those details to the interests and identities that you consider most important.

Highlight new aspects of yourself

It’s absolutely fine to write Boston College essays on topics mentioned elsewhere in your application. However, if you try to draft Boston College supplemental essays like this, build on the story your application already tells. Remember, Boston College supplemental essays should share something new with the Boston College admissions team. If you’re not giving entirely new information, be sure your Boston College essays provide a new perspective.

As you’re drafting Boston College supplemental essays — perhaps trying multiple Boston College essay prompts — consider the following questions.

Don’t skip the editing phase

Especially if writing Boston College supplemental essays is really challenging, it can be tempting to submit a first draft. Forget editing, you’re tired of looking at this thing! But if you know the first thing about how to get into Boston College, you’ll know editing is crucial. Make plenty of time to leave your drafts alone before returning to them for the editing round. Then, you’ll be able to look at your writing with fresh eyes.

Don’t just fix technical errors: review your essays for content to make them shine. Additionally, read essay examples to see what worked well and how you can improve your own essays. Moreover, ask someone you trust, like a family member or teacher, if your essays portray you accurately. Reflect on the questions included with the Boston College supplemental essays above when revising.

Is the Boston College essay important?

Absolutely. Along with personal statements, Boston College essays provide Boston College admissions an opportunity to hear about you through your own perspective. They should give a fuller picture of you than your transcript and activities lists. Ideally, your Boston College supplemental essays will show your ability to reflect and learn from certain experiences. In fact, all of the Boston College essay prompts allow students to showcase their personal growth. By highlighting your growth mindset, you can ensure your application stands out. 

Boston College supplemental essays also let you reflect on a key aspect of your life. Read each of the Boston College essay prompts, selecting the prompt for which you can draft effective Boston College essays. Starting off on the right foot will help you overcome the low Boston College acceptance rate.

Showcase writing ability

Personal statements and Boston College supplemental essays also give Boston College admissions a sense of your writing ability. After all, any school matching the Boston College acceptance rate will have a rigorous curriculum. Furthermore, as a liberal arts college, Boston College will certainly call upon your writing skills regardless of your major. Can you efficiently and clearly convey ideas? Additionally, can you engage readers of your Boston College essays?

If you enroll at Boston College, you’ll have a lot of writing ahead of you. Therefore, Boston College admissions wants strong Boston College supplemental essays that show evidence of drafting, editing, and proofreading. These are all skills that you will use if you attend Boston College. So, effective Boston College supplemental essays show that the author has what it takes to succeed at Boston College.

Overcoming the low Boston College acceptance rate

As mentioned in the Quick Facts, the Boston College acceptance rate is 16%. The Boston College acceptance rate places Boston College among the top 100 most selective colleges and universities in the country. As the Boston College acceptance rate suggests, Boston College is a competitive school.

In light of the low Boston College acceptance rate, you should think critically about how to get into Boston College. High test scores won’t necessarily be enough. According to the U.S. News stats on Boston College admissions, half of admitted applicants had an SAT score between 1440 and 1540 or an ACT score between 33 and 35. The decreasing Boston College acceptance rate reflects these competitive scores.

Given the low Boston College acceptance rate, Boston College supplemental essays are extremely important to every Boston College application. While the Boston College acceptance rate may seem intimidating, there’s one thing every admitted student has in common: they impressed Boston College admissions by writing compelling Boston College supplemental essays. For your best chance against the Boston College acceptance rate, you should craft unique, authentic, and engaging Boston College essays.

What are the admission requirements for Boston College?

Remember, prospective students can complete a Boston College application using the Common Application or Questbridge Application. Note that Boston College does not accept the Coalition Application. An application must include:

As you can see, Boston College supplemental essays are just one aspect of your application. However, Boston College essays are essential to the Boston College admissions process, especially as the Boston College acceptance rate declines.

Declining acceptance rates

The Boston College acceptance rate has steadily decreased over the past five years. As more students have begun applying to more schools, acceptance rates across the nation have become more competitive. On top of that, the pandemic forced many colleges and universities to adopt test-optional policies. Consequently, even more students applied to college, especially competitive schools like Boston College and the Ivies. The Boston College acceptance rate from last year definitely reflects this uptick in applicants.

Boston College admissions has made their 2025-2026 admissions cycle test-optional as well. If you so choose — or, of course, are unable — you don’t need to submit SAT or ACT scores. However, if you don’t submit test scores, Boston College admissions will place greater emphasis on the rest of your application. This includes Boston College essays, so make your choice wisely. Even if your standardized test scores are solidly in the middle — or even slightly below average — submitting them may not hurt.

Additional Tips for the Boston College essay

Boston College Admissions

Want to hear more from Boston College’s undergraduate admissions team on approaching the Boston College supplemental essay? Check out this video from the senior assistant director below.

Boston College Supplemental Essay: Final Thoughts

When thinking about how to get into Boston College, well-crafted Boston College supplemental essays should be top of your list. As you review and respond to the Boston College essay prompts, don’t let the low Boston College acceptance rate deter you from applying. If you believe Boston College’s Jesuit Catholic education will help you achieve your goals, submit the strongest application you can.

The more you edit your Boston College supplemental essays, the stronger they will be. Take your time with the Boston College essay prompts and remember to draft, revise, and proofread. Whichever one of the Boston College essay prompts you choose, your Boston College essays should answer, “Why Boston College?”

Look on the bright side!

Once again, don’t let the low Boston College acceptance rate discourage you. Boston College admissions wants to accept students from a diverse range of backgrounds who will enrich their campus community and make a positive difference in the world. Don’t be afraid to dream about the kind of future you want to build for yourself. If you can imagine how Boston College will help you reach it, you can better show why you deserve admission. Remember to be yourself and take pride in your experiences. If you’re genuine and authentic in your Boston College supplemental essay, your personality will shine through.

This Boston College supplemental essays guide was written by Sarah Kaminski and Gina Goosby. Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.