This week, two of my students completely changed their personal statements after writing a Boston College supplemental essay.
We had already spent time developing their original essays. But answering a different question helped them get to something more personal. The reflection we had been working toward came through more clearly in their supplements, and we realized those ideas belonged at the center of their personal statements.
Sometimes, the question that helps a student find their story comes from an unexpected place.
My favorite Boston College essay prompt
Boston College’s fourth supplemental option builds on its Jesuit principles of being attentive, reflective, and loving. It asks:
“If you could add a fourth ‘Be,’ what would it be and why?”
Students also explain how that value would support their personal development and enrich the BC community. Most applicants choose one of four supplemental options, while Human-Centered Engineering applicants answer a separate prompt. www.bc.edu
This is my favorite of the four. In fact, every student I have worked with on a Boston College application has chosen it.
I would be curious to know how often applicants choose it overall, but I have not found public data from BC breaking down prompt selection. What I can speak to is what happened with my students this week: this question helped them write with greater self-awareness.
Why a different question can help
A personal statement can feel like an enormous assignment. Students are trying to decide which story to tell, what admissions readers want to know, and how to make it all fit. It is easy to become so focused on writing a strong essay that they lose track of what they actually want to say.
My sense is that the fourth “Be” gives students a more manageable starting point. Choose a value. Explain why it matters. Think about how it shows up in your life.
That can lead to questions such as:
When have I acted on this value, even when it was difficult?
What do people rely on me for?
What was I thinking or feeling in that moment?
What have I come to understand about myself?
The word a student chooses is only the beginning. The useful material is in the experiences behind it: a decision, an interaction, a moment of uncertainty, or something they noticed about another person.
That is where we begin to understand the student more fully.
A supplement can change how you see the personal statement
We often treat application writing as a sequence. Finish the personal statement, then move on to the supplements.
But students can learn something about themselves while writing those shorter responses. When that happens, it makes sense to revisit an earlier draft.
For these two students, writing the BC supplement helped us recognize a stronger direction for the personal statement. We could develop the ideas further there while making sure the BC response still answered its own question and added something to the application.
That does not mean every student should start over in October. It means a draft should remain open to a better idea. The time spent on an earlier version can help a student recognize what they want to say next.
What parents can take from this
If your teen is stuck on an essay, another request to “be more reflective” may be hard for them to act on. Reflection becomes easier when the question is specific enough to answer.
Try asking about a moment: What happened? Why did you respond that way? What did you understand afterward that you had not understood before?
Then give them room to think. The answer does not need to sound profound. An ordinary interaction can reveal a great deal when a student explains what they noticed and why it mattered.
Students do not need to apply to Boston College to use its fourth “Be” as a brainstorming exercise. It can be a useful way to explore a value and the experiences that shaped it.
This week reminded me of something I value about counseling students through this process: sometimes a new question helps them recognize something about themselves that they had not yet put into words.
Source: Boston College’s current supplemental essay prompts.