Last updated September 23, 2024
If you are looking for guidance on the Western Ivey supplementary essays, as well as Ivey HBA essay examples and templates, then you’ve come to the right place.
This Application Prep guide is fully updated with this year’s 2024/2025 application, as well as past applications for reference.
The main change this year is there are no pandemic impact statements.
They’ve kept the video interview.
Students are required to submit answers to five live video interview questions.
We won’t go into detail on that in this guide, but we have a separate guide to help you prepare for any video interviews (and it’s 100% free).
Work with a 1:1 coach to receive comprehensive coaching to elevate your essay writing abilities, interviewing skills, and ensure you are submitting the most unique, authentic, and compelling application possible.
They are also getting rid of a few things, including the Ivey Grad reference, the Work Experience section, and the International Experience section.
Before you dive in, it’s important to understand that the admissions committee receives thousands of applications every year. To help set yourself apart from the crowd, you need to demonstrate a clear sense of self, strong life experience, and exemplary communication skills.
Our ‘full student’ coaching process does exactly that. If you’re not working with a coach, be sure to read the Self-Awareness, Goal-Setting, and Narrative Communication Skills Guides.
The Narrative Communication Approach™ is a particularly useful storytelling framework that helps you tell a clear and concise story, while creating an emotional connection with the reader. All Western Ivey essay examples and templates use this approach.
We use essay templates to show you a suggested essay structure that uses the Narrative Communication Approach™. Using this structure does not mean your essays will be the same as other students. That’s like saying using the 3 Act Structure makes every play, movie, and novel the same. The content of that story makes it unique.
We also suggest following the 5-step essay writing process we teach, seen here.
REMEMBER: When you’re applying to Ivey, don’t forget that Ivey AEO is a status, NOT a program. This means that you must apply to any program at Western University, like Engineering, Arts & Humanities, Social Science, etc. Then, you must state your intention to apply to Ivey AEO Status on your OUAC application.
If you’re serious about getting into Ivey and reaching your fullest post-secondary potential, connect with a coach. It’s never too early to receive coaching.
For more information about Western Ivey, check out this free Western Ivey Program Guide and this informative video that one of our coaches, a Western alumnus, created to help students just like you.
Table of Contents
- 2024/2025 Western Ivey Supplementary Essays: Questions; Tips for Writing; Templates; Examples; and More.
- 2020-2023 Western Ivey Supplementary Essays: Questions (including the Character Traits Essay); Tips for Writing; Templates; Examples; and More.
2024/2025 Western Ivey Supplementary Application
There are the main components of the Western Ivey AEO Application (click here for a breakdown of each section):
- Biographic Info
- Additional Information (including an Optional Special Circumstances Essay)
- Education & Awards (where you may list up to 10 awards)
- Activities Essays (2x 500-word essays)
- Additional Activities – Optional (Up to 5 additional extracurriculars with a description)
- Video Essay (a live video interview with a randomly generated question)
- Identity Supplemental (Optional but recommended)
Western Ivey HBA AEO asks you to complete a supplementary application, which includes a total of three, 500-word essays (two required and one optional).
In this guide, we’ll cover the Awards, Activities (including References), and Additional Activities sections.
There is also an Identity Supplemental that is the same as the 2022/2023 application; however, we will not cover this in the guide. Reach out to a coach to help challenge and broaden your thinking about this question.
Identity Supplemental: “We understand that identity and sense of belonging are connected. Is there anything you would like to share about your lived experience and the identity you have shared with us that could better increase your sense of belonging in the Ivey community?” (500 words)
The Western Ivey AEO application deadline for students applying from secondary school is January 15, 2025, at 11:59 PM EST.
The Activity Essays are designed to allow the admissions committee to get to know you, while evaluating your skills and whether you’d be a good fit for their program.
These essays are undoubtedly the most important part of your application.
As one of the admission requirements, Ivey states that they look for applicants with ‘demonstrated leadership through extracurriculars’. These essays are EXACTLY where you show this leadership off.
These essays are where Ivey will separate the admitted candidates from the rejected ones.
COACH’S TIP: With so many applicants, making your essays unique can be tough. We recommend choosing activities that demonstrate your initiative, teamwork, commitment, and achievement. If you are having trouble, connect with a coach and they will help you out.
Keep reading for Western Ivey HBA essay examples, essay templates, and useful tips for writing!
Before getting started, check out this video for some helpful information about the Western Ivey HBA (AEO) application in general:
Western Ivey Application – Awards
Before submitting your two essays, you will see an Awards section of the application. This section is optional.
Here, you can list up to 15 non-academic awards, scholarships or distinctions you have received in the past 4 years, along with a brief description (500 characters max).
COACH’S TIP: It’s always important to stress the number of students who won the award, so you can really stress the impact of the award and your achievement. For example, an award with eight winners may not be as impactful as one with a single, elected winner, such as MVP or Valedictorian.
Ivey HBA Application: Awards – Template
We recommend using our template so you can review everything before submitting.
For the Awards section, list the Award Title, Granting Institution, Award Description, and Date Granted.
Ivey HBA Application: Awards – Example
Here are a couple of examples to help you out:
Award Title: Edmonton Journal All-Star
Granting Institution: Edmonton Journal
Award Description: Chosen by the Edmonton Journal to be an “Edmonton Journal All-Star” – awarded to a select group of the best athletes in Edmonton and area.
Date Granted: 15/3/2021
Award Title: Grade 10 Royal Conservatory of Music
Granting Institution: Royal Conservatory of Music
Award Description: Passed both my theory and practical Grade 10 Piano
Date Granted: 10/1/2020
If you don’t think you have any experiences that qualify as “Awards”, don’t fret. 🙂
When you connect with a Youth Coach, you will have access to a list of incredible opportunities that can help you solve this problem and become an even better candidate than you already are!
Western Ivey Application – Activity Essays
“Consider all the extracurricular activities (community involvement, paid and/or volunteer work experience, entrepreneurial ventures), that you have been involved in since July 1, 2021. Select two (2) activities that you feel demonstrate your leadership abilities best. Focus your description on elements that demonstrate: leadership, teamwork, initiative, achievement, commitment and breadth. Each description should focus on one activity only. You must add two (2) activities to this section to be able to submit your application.”
Ivey HBA Application: Activity Essay – Breakdown
Here, you must describe your top 2 activities which you have completed in the last 4 years.
Think about what it’s like when you meet someone for the first time. You go through the usual rituals, like shaking hands and making small talk. Once you get past that, you usually start talking and sharing stories about your respective experiences and interests. After a little while, you feel like you know the person and you have a better understanding of who they are, and you really start to like them.
Your Activity Essays are the SAME. You are meeting the admissions committee for the first time. They know nothing about you, but it’s through your sharing of experiences and accomplishments, roles you’ve taken on, and common interests and goals that they get to know you and see who you really are. This is your first (and only) impression, so make it count!
When thinking about which two activities you should write about, choose the ones that really showcase who you are, and ones that highlight your background, interests, and leadership skills.
Consider all your activities, like in your community, clubs, work experience, athletics, entrepreneurial ventures, etc.
Ivey looks for applicants whose activities demonstrate the following areas:
Ivey looks for all four of these areas in your Activity Essays, so make sure you highlight all of them as much as you can.
One of the ways you can do this is by using our Narrative Communication Approach™. This method will help you create a memorable essay that is personal and authentic, while showcasing your initiative, teamwork, commitment, and achievement using storytelling.
Your essays should not only talk about your experience while you did that activity, but they should be activities that had a real impact on you and changed who you are as a person. Digging past the surface level will show that you’ve applied what you learned from this activity in your life and that it’s made you a better student, leader, and person overall (and these are all things that Ivey looks for). Keep reading below to learn exactly how to do this.
Before getting started, check out this video for tips on writing your Western Ivey Activity Essays:
Ivey HBA Application: Activity Essay – Template
The general structure of your essay should have these five components (get a detailed breakdown of these components here):
- Hook (1-25 words) – Optional
- Capture the reader’s attention and give a quick preview of what’s to come. Make sure you mention your role and organization for your activity here.
- Context (25-50 words)
- Discuss when and why you became involved in this activity. Include other details like your role and responsibilities, time commitment, who you worked with, etc.
- Catalyst (50-75 words)
- Talk about an event or situation during this experience that made you want to make a change/impact. In other words, what did you seek to do as a leader in this role and how did you create that change/impact?
- Outcome (200-250 words)
- Discuss who you worked with to create the impact/change. Were there any challenges or setbacks? What impact did you make with this activity? Make sure you’re specific here, like a certain amount of money you raised, direct feedback from people you impacted, or any form of credibility.
- Reflection (75-100 words)
- Talk about what you learned as a leader from this experience. Think outside the box here and don’t talk about basic learning. Try to think of something new that the reader wouldn’t expect.
COACH’S TIP: Don’t worry about writing complete sentences at first. Just write 2-3 bullet points under each section, just to get your ideas down. You can edit and perfect your answers later. If you’d like some more information about how to write each section of this essay in our Narrative Communication Guide.
Ivey HBA Application – Essay Examples
Here are some examples of Activity Essays for the Western Ivey HBA Supplementary Application.
REMEMBER: This is an EXAMPLE ONLY and is NOT meant for you to copy. Why? First and foremost, this is plagiarism and is a serious offence. Plagiarizing these essays will result in immediate disqualification from the admissions process. This can be easily detected using technology and application reviewers are usually trained and/or able to spot when an application isn’t original and does not align with an applicant’s background, personality, values, etc.
Example 1: Starting an entrepreneurial venture
Example 2: Organizing a fundraiser
Nail your Western Ivey Activity Essays.
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Ivey HBA Application: Additional Activities
If you have other extracurricular activities that you don’t want to write an essay about but want to include in the Additional Activities (Optional) section of your application.
Here’s an example of an Additional Activity from the EC that was used in Essay 1 above:
Need some help choosing your extracurriculars and creating memorable and unique essays? Connect with a coach to get started.
Western Ivey Application – References
In addition to your Activity Essays, you’ll also be asked to provide the name, position, and contact information (phone and email) of a reference for EACH activity you listed in your application.
Once you’ve submitted your application, Ivey will contact your references to make sure that the information you provided (e.g. activity position, role, start/end dates, hours per week, activity description, etc.) is accurate.
Once they receive a copy of your essay, the reference will be asked to choose “Yes, I agree with the information provided,” OR “No, I disagree with the information provided.”
The form your references receive looks like this:
COACH’S TIP: Don’t over exaggerate and NEVER provide false information when describing your activity and your role, time committed, etc. The last thing you want is for your references to say that they don’t agree with the information provided.
We highly recommend that you contact your references before submitting your application and give them a heads up that you’ve chosen them as a reference. You can even speak to them quickly and give a quick summary of the information and learning outcomes you described in your essay, just to make sure you’re both on the same page.
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2020/2021 – 2022/2023 Western Ivey Supplementary Application
The 2020/2021 application for Western Ivey (AEO) is the same application as 2021/2022, except that they required two extracurricular activities essays. The only new section in the 2022/2023 application was the Identity Supplemental.
Here’s another Ivey Activities Essay Example in case you need more inspiration.
Western Ivey AEO Activity Essay
Consider all the extracurricular activities (community involvement, paid and/or volunteer work experience, entrepreneurial ventures), that you have been involved in during the past four years. Select THREE activities that you feel demonstrate your leadership abilities best. Focus your description on elements that demonstrate: leadership, teamwork, initiative, achievement, commitment and breadth. Each description should focus on one activity only.
Ivey HBA Application: Activity Essay – Activity Essay
Like the two examples mentioned above, the general structure of your essay should have these five components (get a detailed breakdown of these components here):
- Hook (1-25 words) – Optional
- Capture the reader’s attention and give a quick preview of what’s to come. Make sure you mention your role and organization for your activity here.
- Context (25-50 words)
- Discuss when and why you became involved in this activity. Include other details like your role and responsibilities, time commitment, who you worked with, etc.
- Catalyst (50-75 words)
- Talk about an event or situation during this experience that made you want to make a change/impact. In other words, what did you seek to do as a leader in this role and how did you create that change/impact?
- Outcome (200-250 words)
- Discuss who you worked with to create the impact/change. Were there any challenges or setbacks? What impact did you make with this activity? Make sure you’re specific here, like a certain amount of money you raised, direct feedback from people you impacted, or any form of credibility.
- Reflection (75-100 words)
- Talk about what you learned as a leader from this experience. Think outside the box here and don’t talk about basic learning. Try to think of something new that the reader wouldn’t expect.
Ivey HBA Application: Activity Essay – Pandemic Impact Statement
Like Essay 1 and 2, your Pandemic Impact Statement asks you to discuss how your activity and your leadership was affected (either positively or negatively) by COVID-19 and what you learned as a result. Complete this paragraph and place it at the end of your essay.
To help make it easier for you to write this section, this is the suggested essay structure using the Narrative Communication Approach™.
Get started on your Pandemic Impact Statement here.
There are three components to this paragraph:
- Context (~50 words)
- Discuss how your activity was run before COVID. Paint a ‘before’ picture here, so that the real impact can be felt later on in the paragraph.
- Catalyst – Impact & Action (~125 words)
- Answer the question: When COVID hit, what happened? Did it impact your activity? What was the most difficult part and how did you respond? It’s important to focus on positive traits that came out of this, like courage, collaboration, temperance, and leadership.
- Outcome – Learning (~125 words)
- Discuss how this experience allowed you to learn and grow as a leader. Choose a unique learning that uses higher insight and thought to really make your answer unique and stand out.
Ivey HBA Application: Activity Essay – Essay Examples
Here’s an example of an essay question for a student who started a tutoring business.
REMEMBER: This is an EXAMPLE ONLY and is NOT meant for you to copy.
Here is an example of the Pandemic Impact Statement for this activity:
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