Villanova University 2017-18 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Villanova 2017-2018 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: Choose one out of three prompts. 250-1000 words.

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Oddball, Community

In addition to the essay included with the Common Application and as part of Villanova’s Member Section of the Common Application, Villanova requires that you submit one Villanova Essay (of 250-1000 words per the Common Application guidelines) from the three choices below. This essay is an important part of your application as it provides us with an opportunity to gain more insights into your candidacy.

Please note: the Villanova Essay should have a separate and distinctive response to that of the Common Application Essay.

Option One: At Villanova, we believe that it is our similarities that make us strong, but our differences that make us stronger. Please tell us about a relationship that you have with someone who is different from you and how that has changed who you are today.

Are you the kind of person that is open to learning new things and entertaining ideas that perhaps you haven’t considered before? That is what Villanova wants to know from your answer to this prompt. The ability to learn and grow is often rooted in your ability to push beyond your comfort zone and process other people’s perspectives, and this is your opportunity to showcase you have the kind of openminded sensibility required to take advantage of the diversity a college experience will provide. Can you think of a specific interaction you had with someone that shook you at your core or turned your beliefs upside down? When can you remember thinking about someone’s life or experiences as being completely unfamiliar and completely fascinating? And what have you learned from these kinds of relationships?

Option Two: “Become what you are not yet” – Saint Augustine

When you daydream, who do you hope to become in the future?

This is a prompt about aspirations. It is also a prompt with endless potential for invention and imagination. You can take it in so many different directions. Think about it, your goals for the future can branch out to so many different areas of your life — professional, academic, social and more. What have you not addressed anywhere else on the application that is worth highlighting here? It can help to root your fantasy in reality and connect what you want to do in the future with what you’ve done in the past. For example, maybe you were elected President of the United States in your mock government class and you realized you had a passion for leading and policy and now you hope to continue the role later on in the real world. Perhaps you volunteered teaching English as a second language to students in underserved communities and the experience inspired you to seek a degree in education. Or maybe you want to take a different route altogether and be one of the first people to go on a one way mission to Mars. The possibilities are endless, as long as you explain your rationale to admissions to give them another peek into what makes you tick. 

Option Three: Describe a book, movie, song or other work of art that has been significant to you since you were young and how its meaning has changed for you as you have grown.

Of course we love this prompt. We’re nerds. And anything that allows us to wax poetic about our favorite comics (Sandman) or artwork (Yayoi Kusama’s pumpkins!) is a thrill. This question is especially interesting in that it is asking how a work of art has changed for you over time. Admissions wants to see that you understand the shift in perspective from childhood to adulthood and are asking you to connect the dots for them. Did reading Lord of The Rings give you the courage to take chances and trust your gut in your own life? Did Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black album accompany you through dark times? Did your time watching Hitchcock films with your dad inspire you to pursue a career in the arts? Villanova wants to know!