Boston University (BU) is a large, private research university located smack-dab in the middle of Boston. Here’s a fun BU fact for you: the telephone was invented by one BU professor, Alexander Graham Bell, in a BU lab! BU has gotten increasingly competitive over the last few years, currently boasting an acceptance rate of around 14%. That number will probably continue to go down, as BU is keeping their test-optional policy in effect for this year.
Because BU is a hard school to get into, that means you need to have every part of your application in tip-top shape. BU only has one supplement, but you can choose from two (very standard) prompts. We’re going to break down how to write these supplements for you and give you our best tips and tricks for having the best BU application possible.
Boston University is dedicated to our founding principles: “that higher education should be accessible to all and that research, scholarship, artistic creation, and professional practice should be conducted in the service of the wider community—local and international. These principles endure in the University’s insistence on the value of diversity in its tradition and standards of excellence and its dynamic engagement with the City of Boston and the world.” With this mission in mind, please respond to one of the following two questions in 300 words or less:
Pay attention to the preambles, kids! These long paragraphs often reveal to us what the school wants you to tell them, and for BU, they want you to share in their value system. Prompt 1 is a community essay, and prompt 2 is a why essay. You can’t go wrong with either prompt here, but we’re probably leaning towards prompt 2, unless you have a killer story for prompt 1. Let’s get started!
1. Reflect on a social or community issue that deeply resonates with you. Why is it important to you, and how have you been involved in addressing or raising awareness about it?
This is your classic community essay, and the most important thing to remember here is to tell a story. Honestly, anyone who’s read more than one post on our blog knows that most college essays are about telling stories, and if you want to evangelize on one thing about college applications, please tell all your peers to tell stories. Ok, off our soapbox now. Sorry!
When a school asks you to “reflect on a social or community issue that deeply resonates with you,” this does not mean it’s time to talk about huge massive global issues in a vague way. This is also not a place to talk about anything highly controversial. BU is a research university in a large liberal city (in this house, we believe vibes), so talking about things like climate change or vaccines are not gonna be controversial here, but use your judgment when deciding what you wanna talk about. BU is also specifically asking you to talk about how you have engaged with this issue, so if you haven’t engaged with this issue, you don’t want to write about it. Basically, don’t talk about how you’re really sad that the ice caps are melting, instead talk about the recycling program you helped establish at your school.
When you think about what story to tell, look at what you’ve done first. And don’t be afraid to think a little bit outside the box, either! We see students get tripped up by this question; they believe they need to write about some hot-button social or political issue, but the question itself says “or community!” Maybe you were really concerned about the crumbling infrastructure in your city, so you petitioned the city government to make some changes. Maybe you noticed that a lot of young women at your school weren’t joining or engaging with the science clubs, so you started a women in STEM club to help foster that community. Maybe there’s a really bad bullying problem at your school, and you’ve taken it upon yourself to make students feel welcome, comfortable, and safe by starting a lunch-buddy program.
Whatever you choose to write about, you want to write it in a story format. Don’t try to write an epic about your three-year journey to get potholes filled on your street. Instead, drop us into the middle of the City Hall meeting where they finally voted on your resolution. Make sure the story has a definitive beginning, middle, and end, with the beginning setting the scene (with lots of description), your middle introducing some kind of conflict or tension or unresolved issue, and your end resolving it nicely. We know not all stories have beautiful happy endings, but for the sake of a college essay, they should.
2. What about being a student at BU most excites you? How do you hope to contribute to our campus community?*
And now, the classic Why Us essay!
BU is placing emphasis on contributing to their campus community, so you’ll want to talk a little bit about non-academic stuff. But you still also have to talk about academics. Think of the Why essay as an argumentative essay, where the thesis is “Let me into your school.” and, as with all good argumentative essays, you will be providing them with evidence.
You want to start with your origin story. Basically, why do you want to study what you say you want to study? If you want to become the next Marie Curie (minus the radiation), talk about how you used to attempt crazy science experiments in your backyard. You want to identify the inception of your stated passion.
Now it’s time to put in your evidence. Look up the BU course catalog and pick an upper-level class that fits in with your stated passion. Don’t choose introduction to organic chemistry, because every single school with a chemistry major will have that class. Instead, pick something a little bit more niche and tailored to your interests. Don’t write about how it’s cool, instead talk about what it will teach you or why specifically it’s interesting to you. After this, you will find a professor doing research in your area of interest. You will write about why you want to work with them or be in their lab, and how they can help you further your goals.
Now for the community part (which is still evidence btw!). You want to pick an extracurricular at BU that matches the experience you already have. You also don’t want to pick something that doesn’t tell them anything about you. Like, sure, you played lacrosse for four years, but telling them you want to join the club lacrosse team doesn’t do much for you here. Instead, talk about how you want to join the school paper because you’re applying to the journalism major and you were editor of the school paper. If you were really active in community service in high school, talk about a similar organization active on the BU campus.
We know this can be a lot to put into 300 words, but we know you can do it! For both of these, make sure to polish, edit, and have a trusted friend or adult help you proofread before you send it off.
The rest of your Common App needs to be in good shape, too. We have guides on the Common App essay, the activities section, additional information (if needed), and so much more. And, if you need help with those, we’re here too.
Need help with your BU app? We got you, reach out today.