Essay Advice: Tips for "Why this school?" essay

College Essays
1

<p>Many of the supplemental essay prompts are some variety of “Why this school?” And it seems so hard to write. What do you say? What do you really know about the school? Unfortunately, so many times the final essay will go on about how awesome the school is, how great the faculty is, and how unbelievable certain programs are.</p>

<p>And that’s so wrong.</p>

<p>Tip #1: The essay needs to be about YOU. The schools don’t want to hear about themselves. They want to know why their school would be a good fit for YOU. What are YOU interested in and why would their school provide that for you?</p>

<p>Tip #2: You don’t want to come across as blindly in love with the school. Never say things like “I’ve wanted to go the Great State since I was two years old.” Or “Going to Great State would be the culmination of a lifetime dream.” As a matter of fact, you want to be just a little aloof. You want to come across as: “I wondered if Great State would be a fit, so I investigated…”</p>

<p>Tip #3: (Pardon this crude analogy, but it really works here). Imagine that the school is a classmate of the opposite sex that you really would like to date. How would you approach that person? Would you walk up and say “You’ve been my dream date since I started thinking about girls/guys”…? Of course not. It would be a turn-off and you would come across as a little nutty and desperate. And you know desperate does not work. What would work is… “Hey, I love sci fi movies and I heard that you might also.” A little cool and casual might win the day.</p>

<p>Tip #4: Don’t laugh at Tip #3. It works.</p>

<p>Let’s look at the following essay on “Why Stanford?” and analyze it:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Nowhere does it rave about how great Stanford is in general. Nowhere does it talk about prestige. The general tone was: “I felt at home, so I did my research to see if Stanford might POSSIBLY be a fit for ME. And it WAS!”</p>

<p>It was NOT love at first sight… not yet. But there was that air of possibility. Only after I got to know the place did it look like there was a match. Just like with a person… even if there is chemistry on the first date, you don’t declare everlasting love. How much stronger will it seem if that declaration only comes after you get to know the person in depth?</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>—Robert Cronk, author of [Concise</a> Advice: Jump-Starting Your College Admissions Essays](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/dp/0974386723]Concise”>http://www.amazon.com/dp/0974386723)</p>

2

<p>I’ve seen winning writing that simply involved meeting students on campus and feeling the fit. Each applicant’s background and needs come into play- the diversity candidate may value different aspects of the school than a kid interested in all the research opps. Some kids mention alums they spoke with, at length, or former hs friends who attend and whom they met with on campus.</p>

<p>The blunders are real head-smackers.</p>

3

<p>^___ lookingforward: I like that advice (“feeling the fit”/“each applicant’s background and needs come into play”). Excellent advice, since not everyone is interested in “research” per se. The point is to personalize it.</p>

4

<p>I’ve been struggling brainstorming what to write for my “why this school” essay prompts, and thank goodness for I found these tips on my first day using College Confidential!
Funnily, I laughed when reading Tip #3 but immediately got caught by Tip #4. Ha ha.
Thank you so much for such valuable tips!</p>

5

<p>I love tip #3</p>

6

<p>I hate those essays</p>

7

<p>Bump for those who need to finish their essays</p>

8

<p>Thanks for bumping. I definately need this for my USC supplement. Ohmygoodness I have no idea what to say.</p>

9

<p>I am panicking. What if all my “Why X” essays were more formal than this, but still really personal and specific to me? I kinda wrote about how my interests fit into theirs and vica versa</p>

10

<p>bump</p>

11

<p>Tip #3 is the best!</p>

12

<p>The gushy love essays are pretty bad.
With that said that “Why Stanford” essay is really boring and it doesn’t show universities the qualities they are looking for in applicants. </p>

13

<p>I think it depends on the exact question asked. For example, Columbia asks ‘What do you find most appealing to Columbia and why?’ </p>

<p>In such a case, wouldn’t talking more about you be a little bit off?</p>

14

<p>@‌Mawait
I think linking your own background or pursuits to the “why” prompt is vital. </p>

15

^excellent advice