<p>Yep. I can definitely say that approach can work!</p>
<p>Consider writing about specific people, by name. If you want to be really clever, you could have each one personify some broad quality you like about Swarthmore.</p>
<p>My daughter came home from her overnight visit and we just talked about each person and the one thing that was most striking about the experience of meeting them or sitting in their class, or whatever. As luck would have it, when she wrote down the one thing for each of four or five people, she had a bullet list that matched up with the viewbook pitch.</p>
<p>There are a lot of different approaches to the Why Swat? essay that can work. But, common to all successful ones seems to be communicating some understanding of what makes Swat tick and presenting some personality that lets the adcoms picture you as a Swattie.</p>
<p>I agree with Achat that the essays don’t have to be literary classics. Some little “spark” is more important than polished prose, IMO.</p>