Villanova is a private, Catholic research university in the suburbs of Philly. While they are the only Augustinian Catholic university in the nation, you don’t need to be religious to go there. Villanova has around 6000 undergrads. Many know them for their champion basketball team, but the school has a lot more to offer. Villanova’s acceptance rate is around 23%.
Before you jump into it, read the tips on their website. Their tips give you a lot of great information. So go read that and then come back and let us give you more trips. Their supplement lets you choose between 5 prompts for the first question.
Please select one of the five essay prompts listed below to fulfill the writing requirement and respond in about 250 words.
Prompt 1
St. Augustine states that well-being is “not concerned with myself alone, but with my neighbor’s good as well.” How have you advocated for equity and justice in your communities?
This is not our favorite question. However, if you choose this question, you really have to be someone who has put in the work. It’s the difference between going to a protest once and really being dedicated to equity and justice. Your answer should be a story. Regurgitating your resume isn’t going to work here. Zoom in on an important experience you had while pursuing justice and tell the story of that experience. Your answer should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Justice is a big topic. Be specific about what you are fighting for. Housing, food, education, access. The more specific you can get the better.
Prompt 2
What is the truest thing that you know?
This is a tricky prompt to pull off. It’s easy to fall into a trap of just kind of rambling when trying to answer this question. If you just muse on the nature of truth, you haven’t answered this well. This answer should feel like a story (we know we say that a lot, but it’s true.) It can be hard to pull off but tell a story about when you learned/were confronted by a truth and what happened when you realized it was true. This shouldn’t feel like an argument. You don’t need to convince the reader it's true, the important thing is it's true to you. It’s better to choose something smaller here. It should feel both every day and poignant. This can be a lot to ask for, which is why we often tell students to skip it if they don’t have something they really want to write about.
Prompt 3
One of the themes in St. Augustine's book, Confessions, is the idea of redemption. Tell us your story of being given a second chance.
Don’t worry about connecting this to St. Augustine or the catholic confessional. Instead, tell a simple story about a small moment where you were given a second chance. The biggest pitfall here is telling a story that makes you look not great. For example, this isn’t the time to tell a story about how you got in trouble at school for making TikToks in class or being caught with weed. We hope you got a second chance there, but you might not sound great. Your second chance probably should be an every day, yet meaningful one. A better story would be more like if a friend forgave you for a misstep or an argument. You should have a clear takeaway for the reader and show learning/growth on your part.
Prompt 4
In the Villanova community, we believe that we all learn from one another. What is a lesson in life that you have learned that you would want to share with others?
Honestly, this is really similar to prompts 2 and 3, but we probably like it the best of the 3. This is a pretty straightforward prompt to tackle. You should start by choosing an everyday type of lesson that is worth learning. What do we mean by every day? Well, this lesson should feel meaningful, but immediately understandable. The more unusual and high stakes the lesson is, the harder this will be to write. Then set the scene and introduce the person and situation that lead you to learn that lesson. There should be another person in this essay. For example, maybe someone challenged a belief you held and you learned to be more open. Finally, you need to leave the reader with a takeaway. Why was this an important lesson to learn?
Prompt 5
Augustine’s “Miracles are not contrary to nature but only contrary to what we know about nature.” Tell us about a societal issue that you believe the wonder of technology is well-poised to help solve.
This is a really interesting prompt but it is a little tricky to pull. If you take this one on, there are two important ways to make sure it runs smoothly. 1) Be specific. If you make the issue too big, it will be hard to convince that a single piece of tech can solve it. For example, if you try to take on world hunger, this is going to be hard. However, if you zoom in and focus on crop failure in climates affected by climate change, you can have a more full solution. 2) get personal. This can be a hard prompt to get personal with, but whatever you talk about should connect to you in some way. The reader shouldn’t ask, “why are THEY telling this story?” Connect it to something in your life. If you are talking about crop failure, connect it to working in your community garden or a passion for sustainable cooking. Something should click with a hobby, passion, or extracurricular of yours.
Whichever prompt you choose, everyone must also respond to the last question.
In addition, the Admission Committee would like to know why you want to call Villanova your new home and become part of our community? Please respond in about 150 words.*
This is a “why do you want to go here” essay. And it’s a really short one. We have a method to what should go in these essays, but because this one is so short, you will probably have to condense it down to the bare bones. Usually, we say open with a story about your falling in love with an academic passion and then state how that passion turned into you wanting to major in it at Villanova. If you need to cut the personal story, that is fine, but you need to keep the part where you state your major.
These questions should always start with academics and we suggest mentioning specific higher-level courses, professors, and any specific academic opportunities that the department or school offers. Once you have done that, talk about an extracurricular that you want to get involved with. If you have time, you can speak to the campus community by mentioning a specific tradition or resource center that connects to you in some way.
This one is so short, that you probably don’t have time for a conclusion, but try to leave the reader with the sense that you are perfect for Nova and Nova is perfect for you. This is a challenge in 150 words, but pack in some specifics and try to show your passion for the school.
Villanova’s supplement shouldn’t be that hard for most students. As long as you choose the right prompt for you, get specific, and tell a story, you’ll be fine! Give yourself some time to really read over their prompts and do a little research into the school.
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