Bowdoin College includes two optional supplemental essays with a 250-word limit each.
The Offer of the College Essay
Generations of students have found connection and meaning in Bowdoin’s “The Offer of the College,” written in 1906 by Bowdoin President William DeWitt Hyde.
To be at home in all lands and all ages;to count Nature a familiar acquaintance,and Art an intimate friend;to gain a standard for the appreciation of others' workand the criticism of your own;to carry the keys of the world's library in your pocket,and feel its resources behind you in whatever task you undertake;to make hosts of friends…who are to be leaders in all walks of life;to lose yourself in generous enthusiasms and cooperate with others for common ends –this is the offer of the college for the best four years of your life.
Which line from The Offer resonates most with you?
The first draft of my one-act play was my masterpiece. Or so I thought. I had spent a month crafting what I believed was a sharp, witty comedy. When I brought it to my school’s writing club, I expected a round of applause. Instead, I got a sea of polite but confused faces, followed by a wave of criticism. My friend Sarah pointed out that my main character’s motivation was unclear. Another member, David, noted that my big punchline fell flat. I left the meeting feeling defensive and crushed.
For two days, I avoided the script, the criticism stinging my pride. But the feedback lingered. Was Sarah right? I reread the first act from my character’s perspective and realized she was. He was a collection of jokes, not a person. I spent the next week rewriting, not just fixing lines, but listening to the voices of my critics. I cut my favorite joke because David was right; it did not serve the story.
The final version of the play was sharper, funnier, and more human. That experience taught me that criticism is not an attack, but a gift. It is a tool that allows you to see your own work from a new perspective. Gaining that standard has been the most important part of my growth as a writer and a person. It taught me to listen with an open mind and to value the honest feedback that helps turn good work into great work.
For three years, my “generous enthusiasm” has been a small, quarter-acre plot of land behind the public library. When I started our town’s first community garden, it was just an empty lot of weeds. My goal was simple: to grow some vegetables. But I quickly realized I could not do it alone.
My enthusiasm became contagious. I convinced Mr. Henderson from the hardware store to donate lumber for our raised beds. I recruited a team of fellow students to help me turn the soil on weekends. Our "common end" was not just to grow food, but to build something together. We lost ourselves in the work. We spent hours debating the merits of different composting techniques and celebrating our first successful tomato harvest with a shared potluck.
The garden became a place of cooperation. When a sudden hailstorm threatened our seedlings, we all rushed over with tarps and buckets, working together to protect our shared investment. That experience taught me that the deepest joy comes not from individual achievement, but from collective effort. There is a special kind of magic in losing yourself in a project that is bigger than you are, surrounded by people who are just as passionate. It is a feeling I hope to find and contribute to at Bowdoin.
Navigating through Differences Essay
Bowdoin believes that its broadly diverse and inclusive campus community prepares graduates to be contributing and useful citizens of the world. Every graduate of this institution should be confident in their preparation to be able to navigate through differences and in all sorts of situations. A Bowdoin education does not guarantee these skills, but it does impart a set of tools necessary to bravely enter unfamiliar conditions with the confidence to deal effectively with ambiguity.
If you wish, you may share anything about the unique experiences and perspectives that you would bring with you to the Bowdoin campus and community or an experience you have had that required you to navigate across or through difference.
My unique perspective comes from growing up in a bilingual household where conversations often happen in two languages at once. My mother speaks to me in Polish, and I respond in English. My father will ask a question in English, and my grandmother will answer in Polish. For years, I did not even notice it. This constant, fluid code-switching was simply the soundtrack of my life.
This experience has given me a set of tools for navigating difference. I have learned to listen not just to the words people are saying, but to the intent and emotion behind them. I am comfortable in the moments of ambiguity when a direct translation is not possible, and I have learned to find the bridge between two different ways of seeing the world.
This skill became invaluable when I worked as a camp counselor. I had two campers who came from very different cultural backgrounds and were constantly misunderstanding each other. One saw the other’s directness as rude, while the other saw the first’s politeness as dishonest. I did not take sides. Instead, I sat with them and helped them translate not their words, but their perspectives. I explained that different cultures have different rules for communication. It was a slow process, but they eventually learned to listen to each other with more curiosity and less judgment. My upbringing has taught me to be a bridge, and that is a role I am excited to bring to the Bowdoin community.
All the best!
