C26 chose that one too!
1 Like
Kids spend tons of time studying for standardized tests, writing essays, crafting their “personal story”, stressing over every little detail … just so some admissions officer(s) can glance at it for 5 minutes.
What a great system.
13 Likes
Agree that makes it harder. For D19, I could see when we visited how she just fell in love with it, and she was able to use her visit to launch the essay (something about lots of purple and the library, which sounds dumb when I put it like that, but it worked in her essay, haha). That said, I imagine the vast majority of “why us” essays are written without the benefit of visiting first (including all but one of C26’s).
2 Likes
LOL, this is EXACTLY what my D26 would have done! Her essays are either too quirky or not quirky enough. We’ll see what it all brings in 2026!
1 Like
Right, it’s pretty insane. I bet half the time they don’t even really read the essay(s) and if they do, they can’t possibly read them that closely. I feel for the AOs. They have a very tough job. There has got to be a better way, though I have no idea what that better way is.
1 Like
Our kids are probably one of the last graduating classes to write their essays without just delegating this whole application task to AI, so there’s that. For better or worse, it seems inevitable.
2 Likes
Right. “Dont use AI to write your essays”.
Isnt that what AI is meant to do - make our lives easier on things like this. The college application process is not a test.
Nope. On a side note, where’s the butter churner and the 56k modem?
4 Likes
I think D26 has a several why essays she has to do. They are fairly easy for her on her top choices I think (other than having to fit a lot in a little space). One reason for that may be she was very much conducting her search with the “why?” In mind. In fact, there were a couple of schools that seemed like a good, but generic fit for her that she wanted to ax from her list because she felt there was nothing that uniquely stood out for her for that school compared to others. We convinced her to bring one of those back on her list based in part on location. Well how she does on that why essay.
She has yet to start the why essays for the schools deeper on her list. Those may be harder. Of course, I only know what my wife tells me since I am banned from the essay writing process entirely.
Edit: Consistent with what others have said, she has also visited all of her top choices, which certainly helps on the why essays.
1 Like
I’ve been thinking ahead to May when D26 graduates and I want to do for her the same thing I did for her older sister when she graduated.
And I need some ideas from the collective here. 
Let me explain…
When D24 was graduating, I did this DIY project using a small-ish canvas thing (you know, for painting) that I painted in her favorite color. And I put a YCBK (Your College Bound Kid) quote on it…ok, the quote was slightly altered due to space constraints. So the painted canvas said “Attitude, not aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
And then on graduation day, I had everybody sign it (everybody who came to our house for the party) using a couple of paint pens from Michael’s.
It hung on D24’s wall all of freshman year last school year.
THIS year for D26, I want to do the same thing, but need a different quote. The quote on D24’s big canvas graduation card was very applicable to her because there were several times from middle school onward, she’d question whether she was smart enough. Not only was she smart enough, but in her small graduating class, she was awarded the most merit scholarship $$ from the schools she applied to (compared with the other graduates in her high school’s graduating class).
D26 is a different person, though. D26 loves WW2 history so I thought something from a WW2 figure maybe. But it needs to be something positive, uplifting. Or it could be something from Star Wars or Marvel.
I found these quotes from Winston Churchill:
- Success is not final, failure is not final, it is the courage to continue that counts.
- Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, it’s also what it takes to sit down and listen.
- Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.
- History will be kind to me because I intend to write it.
So far, I think my favorite is the last one.
I also think that this time around, I’m going to take the painted canvas to school and I’m going to ask her teachers & the 2 counselors to sign it.
D26 knows that I’m making this canvas card thingy but she doesn’t know yet what’s going to be on it and doesn’t know that I’m going to ask her teachers to sign it also.
Any ideas?
2 Likes
I do like that last one.
My daughter talks about one person she read about that wrote an essay for the Why Yale supplemental. He wrote about Yale’s food and that’s why he wanted to go there. He got in -so sometimes I wonder how much those supplementals help or hurt!
2 Likes
I like the last one the best for this purpose, though I like the second quote a lot too, but I think the last one is most fitting for graduating and moving on to college – kind of looking back and looking forward.
I like the 2nd one, too, because it really fits her personality.
2 Likes
I like all four of these! The last one is nice and short, though, so probably good for a poster. There’s also Churchill’s “Never give in — never, never, never, never…“
1 Like
You could always go short and simple Star Wars: “this is where the fun begins!”
1 Like
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…. everyone was considered an an international student and no one got in-state tuition.
5 Likes
I like this idea! And I like that last quote a lot.
I’m not very helpful with WW2 quotes, sorry. The seniors at our school have to submit a quote to the yearbook that will be printed under their picture. My older one used something from the Minecraft end poem – which, if you’ve never read it, it’s really existentially trippy, LOL.
And D26 submitted one from Zelda. (“A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.” – Hero’s Shade in Zelda Twilight Princess)
I don’t know what part of Marvel she likes, but…
“Everyone fails at who they’re supposed to be. The measure of a person is how well they succeed at who they are.” — Tony Stark
“Part of the journey is the end.” — Tony Stark
3 Likes
Love the idea! I like all the quotes but the last one seems very apt for the occasion.
1 Like
Side note:
All of the turmoil going on right now re: airplane travel makes me think that the colleges within driving distance of home sure look attractive lately.
3 Likes
If she likes Marvel and WWII, this quote is from Captain America: The First Avenger that takes place in WWII:
“Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are, not a perfect soldier, but a good [wo]man.” – Abraham Erskine character
If trying to make it shorter/paraphrase, perhaps, “Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise to stay who you are, not a perfect person, but a good person.”
ETA: A couple possibilities from General Patton include:
- “Better to fight for something than live for nothing.”
- “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.”
Okay, a couple more from Marvel comics of Captain America (source):
-
Courage. Honor. Loyalty. Sacrifice. You’re Braver Than You Think.
-
A Single Individual Who Has The Right Heart And The Right Mind, That Is Consumed With A Single Purpose… That One Man Can Win A War. (Which could be shortened to, “A single individual who has the right heart and the right mind can win a war.”
3 Likes