How Isa Got Into Boston College

Hi everyone! We have not posted on our blog in ages because of how busy we have been with college applications and school. However, since everything has slowed down because of COVID-19, we think this is the perfect time to talk about how we got into our colleges and give some advice on the whole college admission process in general.

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My first time visiting BC; August 2019

Choosing Boston College

I first started to seriously look at colleges in the summer entering my senior year at high school. In June, I sat down with my parents and went over colleges that I was considering at the time. I had never visited/toured a college campus before (other than the University of Miami) so I wanted to narrow down my options to 5 colleges/universities that I could visit in the summer. I don’t think you have to do this because you can definitely use the virtual tours of the colleges online. However, I was really blessed with the opportunity to go tour these colleges over the summer. I toured Babson, Northeastern, Bentley, Boston College, and the University of Texas at Austin. It was a really cool experience for me to see these colleges in person. Now, this is going to sound really cheesy but when I stepped onto Boston College, I had this feeling that this was the place I was meant to be at. I hadn’t felt this feeling after walking onto any other campuses. I fell in love with the values of the school, the architecture, location, opportunities, and people. I knew this was the place for me, so I decided to apply through Early Decision I (this was the first year they were offering it and my college counselor thought that I would have a better chance of getting in by applying ED).

Writing the dreaded essays

Writing the essays was probably the most stressful part for me. I had so much to say but so little words. For the Common App personal statement, I chose to write about my journey with the challenges Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis imposed on my life and how it impacted my outlook on my life and what I value. It really added a personal touch to my resume and it gave the college admissions people a deeper look into who I am as a person. So my advice is to write about something that you wouldn’t be able to find in your resume -- write about something personal and important to you… imagine yourself talking to the admissions decision person and think about what you would like to tell them about yourself.

This year, Boston College required one supplemental essay. There were so many great prompts to choose from, like writing about a book, song, or poem that impacted you, or making your own class at BC, etc. At first, I chose to write about a book that had really impacted me. I thought it was really good and well written but when I met with my college counselor, we both agreed that it wasn’t personal enough. I was really lucky to have had the opportunity to sit and listen to the Boston College Admissions Associate Director Paul Bonitto when he visited my school. I listened to his advice and one student asked what his favorite essays were and he said essays about family. After hearing this, I immediately changed my prompt to the one that asked me about my background and how it will enrich the Boston College Community. I had SO much fun writing this essay. Although it was challenging, I believe it’s probably one of the most unique essays I have ever written. I chose to make my essay a recipe for my favorite Colombian soup

, ajiaco. The soup is full of flavor and I love to eat it when I visit Colombia. I related each ingredient to an aspect of my life and at the end, I talked about how all the “flavors” (or my unique characteristics) would “enhance” (I put this in quotation marks because it was a word in the prompt, which I also think is an important aspect to have in your essay) the community of Boston College. I wrote this essay in one sitting and I was actually pretty nervous since the deadline was about a week and a half away. I immediately scheduled a meeting with my college counselor at school and the next day I showed it to her and she LOVED it.

My advice is to write about something that may seem ordinary to others (like my love for ajiaco) but important to you and elevate it to demonstrate how it impacts your life. Most importantly, just BE YOURSELF!! Colleges want to know who YOU are, not your parents or your college counselors. The essay needs to be written by YOU and needs to have YOUR voice. The entire college process, I did not hire any SAT tutors or additional college counselors (other than the ones provided at school) and I did it -- I got accepted into an amazing school that I’m so excited to attend! The college process may seem daunting at first but I promise, you are completely capable of writing the best essays -- you just have to believe in your self and trust the process.

Me visiting BC in February 2020

General Advice

• Make a Google Drive Folder and call it Colleges *GRADUATION YEAR*

• In the folder create folders for all of the colleges you are going to apply to

• I created a Google doc for each of the essays I wrote and put them into their respective folders to be organized throughout the entire process

• Start those supplemental essays ASAP!! I kind of procrastinated the majority of them in wrote them throughout October

• I actually only ended applying to 5 schools (I was planning on applying to 10) before the ED deadline November 1st and was hoping I would get into BC so that I wouldn’t have to write the other 5 essays

• Have faith in the process! I know these times can be EXTREMELY stressful but it’s important to realize that whatever college you end up at, all those failures/acceptances are what led to that decision and you’ll end up at the college you were meant to be at

All in all, I’m so blessed to have been accepted into Boston College. I am BEYOND excited to attend next fall (hopefully this will still happen haha) and I’m so grateful to my friends and family that supported me throughout the entire process. I’ve already met so many incredible and unique people through social media and I’m really looking forward to meeting them in person in the fall.