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Boston University | BU

Boston, Massachusetts4-yearPrivate

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Boston University | BU’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Additional Info Essay

Not Required

Please use this space if you have additional information, materials, or writing samples you would like us to consider.

Select-A-Prompt Short Response

Required
250 Words

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:


Option 1

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?


Option 2

2. What about being a student at BU most excites you? How do you hope to contribute to our campus community?

Select-A-Prompt Short Response

Required
600 Words

The mission of Kilachand Honors College is to offer a challenging liberal arts education grounded in critical and creative thinking, interdisciplinary problem-solving, and the real-world application of knowledge. Please see https://www.bu.edu/khc/about/ for more details about our program, and then respond to one of the following questions in an essay of 600 words or less:


Option 1

1. What about the Kilachand Honors College resonates with you, and how would Kilachand‘s curriculum fulfill your academic, creative, intellectual, and/or professional goals?


Option 2

2. If you could create a new Kilachand course, what would it be? How would your imagined course align with the core values of Kilachand?

Select-A-Prompt Short Response

Required
600 Words

Please write an essay of 600 words or less in response to one of the following two topics:


Option 1

1: Nobel laureate and BU professor Elie Wiesel once said: “There is divine beauty in learning... To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps. The books I have read were composed by generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, teachers and disciples. I am the sum total of their experiences, their quests." Is there a book, film, podcast or life- experience that has made you feel more connected to your personal history/identity, and what is the most important thing you learned from it?


Option 2

2: Describe a time when you felt out of your comfort zone or marginalized in a situation. How did you respond to that moment and how has it informed your actions moving forward?

Common App Personal Essay

Required
650 words

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.


Option 1

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.


Option 2

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?


Option 3

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?


Option 4

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?


Option 5

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.


Option 6

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?


Option 7

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you‘ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

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