How to Write the Villanova University Essays

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 experience. While 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, transforming your community for the better in the process. Given the limited word count, honing in on a singular example is a strong strategy, but connecting two anecdotes with a common theme may also be a viable option. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to underscore the impact of your actions in quantifiable terms where possible.

This open-ended prompt invites you to share about how your values and growth will shape 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 make you a dynamic and empathetic community member.

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 how aspects of your own home—whether as a physical space or a conceptual one—have shaped you.
What does “home” mean to you? What do you hope to bring with you to your “new home” at Villanova? Which similarities and differences between the two homes are you excited to embrace? 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 are eager to immerse yourself in Villanova’s community and confident that you’ll carve out a niche for yourself there.

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 treated. How does this preferred treatment align with what you perceive as your “true self”? Did the experience help you to realize something about your core identity or values? 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.

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 supported someone who needed it most, you’ll give the admissions committee a glimpse into the kind of community member you will be on campus. 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.

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.

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 experience. While 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, transforming your community for the better in the process. Given the limited word count, honing in on a singular example is a strong strategy, but connecting two anecdotes with a common theme may also be a viable option. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to underscore the impact of your actions in quantifiable terms where possible.

This open-ended prompt invites you to share about how your values and growth will shape 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 make you a dynamic and empathetic community member.

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 how aspects of your own home—whether as a physical space or a conceptual one—have shaped you.
What does “home” mean to you? What do you hope to bring with you to your “new home” at Villanova? Which similarities and differences between the two homes are you excited to embrace? 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 are eager to immerse yourself in Villanova’s community and confident that you’ll carve out a niche for yourself there.

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 treated. How does this preferred treatment align with what you perceive as your “true self”? Did the experience help you to realize something about your core identity or values? 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.

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 supported someone who needed it most, you’ll give the admissions committee a glimpse into the kind of community member you will be on campus. 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.

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.