Essay 1:
Please select one of the five essay prompts listed below to fulfill the writing requirement and respond in about 250 words.
Having the option to choose between one of five prompts allows you to be strategic about which aspects of your personality or interests to highlight. As you choose which prompt you’d like to respond to, consider what you’ll convey about yourself through both the prompt you’ve chosen and how you respond to it. Though all five of the prompts require both reflective and anecdote-based writing, some are more abstract than others. Prompts two and five, for instance, may compel you to get a bit more personal, prompts one and four may require you to lean more on storytelling, while prompt three asks for a nice balance between meaningful vulnerability and concrete detail.
Be sure to play to your strengths in the selection process. It’s not a bad idea to reflect on the anecdotes, topics, values and traits you feel most confident about addressing before choosing which prompt you want to answer—match the prompt to your area of greatest comfort, skill and fluency in writing, rather than the other way around! To truly put your best foot forward, you should avoid forcing your ideas into a prompt that doesn’t feel intuitive and focus instead on weaving a thoughtful response to the prompt that feels “right.”
Read on to learn how to approach each prompt and read a sample essay!
Prompt One: St. Augustine states that well-being is “not concerned with myself alone, but with my neighbor’s good as well.” How have you advocated for equity and justice in your communities?
Explanation:
Concern for the common good is a hallmark value of Villanova’s learning community, and this prompt gives you an excellent opportunity to write about it within your own life’s framework. Although belief in principles of equity and justice are a great starting point, this question asks you to recount a time when you put your belief into action, while transforming your community for the better. Given the brevity of the word count, honing in on a singular example is a strong strategy, but connecting two to three anecdotes with a common theme may also be a viable option. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to underscore the impact of your actions (quantifiably, if possible!).
Prompt Two: What is a lesson in life that you have learned that you would want to share with others at Villanova?
Explanation:
This open-ended prompt invites you to share about how your values and growth will inform your participation in the Villanova community. As you select the lesson you want to write about, think about the most pivotal moments in your life, as well as the experiences that helped you develop resilience, values, and character. Consider the experiences or encounters that have instilled important lessons in you. Was the lesson immediately clear to you, or did it emerge later upon deeper reflection? Would the world be a better place if more people understood what you grew to learn, and if so, how? Then, get specific about how you would contribute to the Villanova community through the lesson you’ve learned. Overall, this prompt should showcase how your teachability and self-reflection makes you a dynamic and empathetic community member.
Prompt Three: “Villanova” means “new home.” Why do you want to call Villanova your new home?
Explanation:
To answer this classic “why this school” prompt successfully, you must draw upon two things: your definition of home and your enthusiasm for Villanova. Think about the aspects of your own home that have shaped you and that you hope to bring with you to your “new home” at Villanova. Think about the traditions, values and communities that await you at Villanova and why they inspired you to apply. Your response should demonstrate that you’re eager to immerse yourself in Villanova’s community and confident that you’ll carve out a niche for yourself there. Which similarities and differences between the two homes are you excited to embrace?
Prompt Four: As an Augustinian community, we value recognizing individuals for their true selves. Please share with us a time when you were misjudged based on your identity, background, experiences or interests.
Explanation:
This prompt offers an opportunity for you to write about how a difficult life moment shaped who you are. Don’t feel pressure to relive every detail of this challenge, but do make clear what the misjudgment was and what the experience taught you. Think about how you would have preferred to be perceived and treated in terms of how it aligns with your “true self.” Furthermore, be sure to share the lessons you learned from the experience and how you will use them to prevent others from experiencing the same misjudgement, stereotyping or exclusion.
Prompt Five: At Villanova, we often say “each of us strengthens all of us.” Please detail a time when someone has borrowed some of your strength in their time of need.
Explanation:
Community is an important part of the Villanova experience, and your celebration of it should be the subject of this short essay. By describing an instance in which you provided support to someone who needed it most, you’ll give the admissions committee a glimpse of the role you’ll play in Villanova’s community. The phrase “each of us strengthens all of us” speaks to how interconnected and dependable the institution’s community members tend to be, so this is a time to communicate your capacity to uplift and strengthen others. Make sure that you provide detail without sounding overly self-congratulatory, emphasizing instead the personal value that lending a helping hand gave you.
Sample:
To some, “new home” could be an oxymoron, but to someone like me, “home” has always been a place of dynamism and novelty. Moving from state to state from the ages of 7-15 exposed me to warm winters, humid summers, sunny midnights and the inevitable frostiness of new faces, as my dad’s contracts took us from Louisiana to DC to Alaska and beyond. In the midst of decoding new accents, however, my brother and I slowly relinquished our own with each city, becoming both kaleidoscopes of experience and tabula rasas at once.
What I learned most from existing within a near-constant state of motion—as unpacking boxes is just the start of the undulating process of cultural assimilation—is that it can coexist harmoniously with stability, and actually thrives best with this pairing. Wavelengths like light and sound illustrate this fact beautifully, showcasing just how illustory the notion of stasis is, as even notes and beams that seem constant secretly dance in crests and troughs. Even on an atomic level, everything moves, meaning that resistance to change is not only ineffective, but simply impossible to maintain.
Embracing new cities as chances to learn and grow wasn’t easy, but overcoming this inertia eventually liberated me. I look forward to bringing this perspective to Villanova, a place I dream of calling my new home. It’s the intangible things that formulate the familiarity of a home, and I know Villanova’s shared values of integrity, compassion and humility will make its campus a home.
Essay 1:
Please select one of the five essay prompts listed below to fulfill the writing requirement and respond in about 250 words.
Having the option to choose between one of five prompts allows you to be strategic about which aspects of your personality or interests to highlight. As you choose which prompt you’d like to respond to, consider what you’ll convey about yourself through both the prompt you’ve chosen and how you respond to it. Though all five of the prompts require both reflective and anecdote-based writing, some are more abstract than others. Prompts two and five, for instance, may compel you to get a bit more personal, prompts one and four may require you to lean more on storytelling, while prompt three asks for a nice balance between meaningful vulnerability and concrete detail.
Be sure to play to your strengths in the selection process. It’s not a bad idea to reflect on the anecdotes, topics, values and traits you feel most confident about addressing before choosing which prompt you want to answer—match the prompt to your area of greatest comfort, skill and fluency in writing, rather than the other way around! To truly put your best foot forward, you should avoid forcing your ideas into a prompt that doesn’t feel intuitive and focus instead on weaving a thoughtful response to the prompt that feels “right.”
Read on to learn how to approach each prompt and read a sample essay!
Prompt One: St. Augustine states that well-being is “not concerned with myself alone, but with my neighbor’s good as well.” How have you advocated for equity and justice in your communities?
Explanation:
Concern for the common good is a hallmark value of Villanova’s learning community, and this prompt gives you an excellent opportunity to write about it within your own life’s framework. Although belief in principles of equity and justice are a great starting point, this question asks you to recount a time when you put your belief into action, while transforming your community for the better. Given the brevity of the word count, honing in on a singular example is a strong strategy, but connecting two to three anecdotes with a common theme may also be a viable option. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to underscore the impact of your actions (quantifiably, if possible!).
Prompt Two: What is a lesson in life that you have learned that you would want to share with others at Villanova?
Explanation:
This open-ended prompt invites you to share about how your values and growth will inform your participation in the Villanova community. As you select the lesson you want to write about, think about the most pivotal moments in your life, as well as the experiences that helped you develop resilience, values, and character. Consider the experiences or encounters that have instilled important lessons in you. Was the lesson immediately clear to you, or did it emerge later upon deeper reflection? Would the world be a better place if more people understood what you grew to learn, and if so, how? Then, get specific about how you would contribute to the Villanova community through the lesson you’ve learned. Overall, this prompt should showcase how your teachability and self-reflection makes you a dynamic and empathetic community member.
Prompt Three: “Villanova” means “new home.” Why do you want to call Villanova your new home?
Explanation:
To answer this classic “why this school” prompt successfully, you must draw upon two things: your definition of home and your enthusiasm for Villanova. Think about the aspects of your own home that have shaped you and that you hope to bring with you to your “new home” at Villanova. Think about the traditions, values and communities that await you at Villanova and why they inspired you to apply. Your response should demonstrate that you’re eager to immerse yourself in Villanova’s community and confident that you’ll carve out a niche for yourself there. Which similarities and differences between the two homes are you excited to embrace?
Prompt Four: As an Augustinian community, we value recognizing individuals for their true selves. Please share with us a time when you were misjudged based on your identity, background, experiences or interests.
Explanation:
This prompt offers an opportunity for you to write about how a difficult life moment shaped who you are. Don’t feel pressure to relive every detail of this challenge, but do make clear what the misjudgment was and what the experience taught you. Think about how you would have preferred to be perceived and treated in terms of how it aligns with your “true self.” Furthermore, be sure to share the lessons you learned from the experience and how you will use them to prevent others from experiencing the same misjudgement, stereotyping or exclusion.
Prompt Five: At Villanova, we often say “each of us strengthens all of us.” Please detail a time when someone has borrowed some of your strength in their time of need.
Explanation:
Community is an important part of the Villanova experience, and your celebration of it should be the subject of this short essay. By describing an instance in which you provided support to someone who needed it most, you’ll give the admissions committee a glimpse of the role you’ll play in Villanova’s community. The phrase “each of us strengthens all of us” speaks to how interconnected and dependable the institution’s community members tend to be, so this is a time to communicate your capacity to uplift and strengthen others. Make sure that you provide detail without sounding overly self-congratulatory, emphasizing instead the personal value that lending a helping hand gave you.
Sample:
To some, “new home” could be an oxymoron, but to someone like me, “home” has always been a place of dynamism and novelty. Moving from state to state from the ages of 7-15 exposed me to warm winters, humid summers, sunny midnights and the inevitable frostiness of new faces, as my dad’s contracts took us from Louisiana to DC to Alaska and beyond. In the midst of decoding new accents, however, my brother and I slowly relinquished our own with each city, becoming both kaleidoscopes of experience and tabula rasas at once.
What I learned most from existing within a near-constant state of motion—as unpacking boxes is just the start of the undulating process of cultural assimilation—is that it can coexist harmoniously with stability, and actually thrives best with this pairing. Wavelengths like light and sound illustrate this fact beautifully, showcasing just how illustory the notion of stasis is, as even notes and beams that seem constant secretly dance in crests and troughs. Even on an atomic level, everything moves, meaning that resistance to change is not only ineffective, but simply impossible to maintain.
Embracing new cities as chances to learn and grow wasn’t easy, but overcoming this inertia eventually liberated me. I look forward to bringing this perspective to Villanova, a place I dream of calling my new home. It’s the intangible things that formulate the familiarity of a home, and I know Villanova’s shared values of integrity, compassion and humility will make its campus a home.
