Villanova, sometimes shortened to Nova, is a private Catholic university outside Philidelphia. The school is famous for sports, especially basketball, striking architecture, and six undergraduate schools. While they are proud of their Augustinian Catholic status, you do not need to be Catholic or religious to go to Nova. Last year, they had about a . Notably, they also published a statistic that many schools don’t. 50% of their incoming class was accepted without test scores. Yes, when they say test-optional, they mean it.

They offer some great tips on how to approach their supplement on their , but we thought we would add our own.

Their supplement lets you choose between 4 prompts for the first question, but some are more accessible than others.

Please select one of the four essay prompts listed below to fulfill the writing requirement and respond in about 250 words. (The word limit is actually 300.)

Prompt 1: 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?

This is an excellent question if you have done the work. If your whole vibe is service and justice, tell a good story about how you have helped your community become a more just place. Think about what you have done and who you have influenced. If you aren’t someone who has done the work, this probably isn’t the question for you.

Prompt 2: As an Augustinian community, we believe that you should see people for who they are. Please share with us a time when you were misjudged based on your identity or background.

We have all been misjudged in the past, so anyone can write this essay. Sometimes, the “identity or background” part will throw students off. They feel that they need to write about race or religion. Those are great to write about but aren’t the only things you can write about here. Maybe someone didn’t think you were creative because you are a STEM major. Maybe someone doubted you could be a leader because you are on the quiet side. Tell a story about how you proved them wrong.

Prompt 3: In the Villanova community, we learn from one another. What is a lesson in life that you have learned that you would want to share with others?

This is another prompt that anyone can respond to. The trick here is you need to tell the story about how you learned that lesson. Sometimes, students try to write this just about the lesson itself and how they would share it. This approach doesn’t work. It will feel rambly. Tell a good story and end with the lesson. Think of this almost as an Aesop’s tale. We need to see how you learned it.

Prompt 4: At Villanova, we often say “each of us strengthens all of us.” In a time of personal challenges, how do you borrow from the strength of others?

We don’t love this prompt. Mainly because it’s hard to write. You always need to give main character energy in everything you write for college. It’s hard to be the main character while borrowing strength, but it's not impossible. For this question, you must talk about another person who helps you while still centering yourself. It’s a tall order, but if you really want to take on this question, you need to tell a good story. (Are you sick of us saying that yet?) Your story should discuss a time that you leaned on someone and how their help allowed you to be your best self or come back stronger.

Why Villanova? Why do you want to call Villanova your new home and become part of our community?

Please respond in about 150 words.*

Everyone has to respond to this prompt. It isn’t a tricky question to answer; however, the word count is low. The word limit is 200, and they prefer you stay close to 150. That isn’t a lot of words.

Before you even start this essay, you will need to do some research. The more you know about the school, the easier writing it will be. One of the most important things to figure out is what you hope to major in at Nova. If you are undecided, take a best guess. This essay doesn’t work if you don’t know what you want from college, and a big part of that is academics.

Once you have chosen a major, start this essay with a concise story about how you fell in love with this subject. Think of this as your origin story. For example, if you want to study Criminology, it could be competing in the forensics category of the science olympiad. Once you have told your story, state what you want to major in at Nova.

You then want to back that up with specifics. (This is where your research will come in handy.) You should mention at least two higher-level classes and a professor you would want to assist. Explain why these academic opportunities fit directly into your interests. Avoid intro classes, as they are the same at most schools. You can also mention any other interesting educational opportunities you have found during your research.

Once you have explored academic resources at the school, you should talk about on-campus opportunities. Find clubs, extracurriculars, centers, etc., that fit with your extracurricular interests. For example, if you play soccer, you could write about trying out for the soccer team. Tell them what you hope to do on campus.

There is a lot to fit into this question. Give yourself time to edit.

The Nova supplement isn’t hard, but it will take you time. Make sure to start early to give yourself time to brainstorm and edit.

And if you need help with supplements, we can do that. Reach out here!