How to Write the Boston University Supplemental Essays

Specificity is key to answering this question. BU is looking to understand the student you will be on their campus – which programs and courses are you going to take advantage of? Which clubs are you most likely to join? Which professors will you be most excited to work with? They want to be able to see a vision of the trajectory you will take across your four years on campus. Avoid vague and/or indecisive statements that give the impression you aren’t sure what your passions are. You aren’t expected to have everything mapped out for the next four years, but you should have a coherent sense of what you hope to get out of your college experience.

The best way to tackle this essay is to be clear about your academic interests and how they relate to what BU offers. You want to be able to not only articulate what you want to study, but also why BU is the right place to study it, drawing on what you’ve learned about the school from a visit, information session, or their website. Colleges make a wide breadth of information widely available for prospective students, so it’s on you to do the research and identify the offerings that match your stated interests.

Lastly, avoid generalizing about the Boston area. Many students target Boston as the city where they want to go to college, and for good reason: it’s a great college town, full of students and universities. But the BU admissions office has said in info sessions that they aren’t as interested in hearing about why you love BU’s location when it comes to answering this question. There are so many other colleges in the area, so geographical location isn’t a strong reason to pick BU specifically. Instead, hone in on what makes BU’s academic offerings unique – what could you accomplish at BU that you couldn’t accomplish anywhere else?