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<p>Just as with mutual funds, Beliavsky, past results are no guarantee of future outcomes – today’s applicants are guessing at an unknown situation a half-decade from now. And when all decent private schools cost about the same, what’s the downside to attending one of the best schools that will accept you?</p>
<p>Schools have different personalities, but how many good students would do well at Harvard and flame out at Stanford, Amherst, Chicago, or Duke, or vice versa? Don’t we console rejected students by saying that there are lots of places they can get a good education and flourish, including the less selective schools to which they have been admitted?</p>
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<p>You’ll get no argument from me; fit is important but that should be accounted for when one is applying to a range of colleges. My younger son attends Brown and would have surely picked his school over HYP. Slavishly picking a school based on its precise USN&WR ranking is foolishness. Nevertheless, cross-admit rates indicate that most students will opt for more-selective colleges over less-selective ones.</p>
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<p>Building on the above list, here’s an additional element that makes writing about WHY XYZ almost trivial, and surely easy.</p>
<p>Do NOT talk about buildings, landscape, elite status, or weather, but focus on a particular current faculty member and tailor the WHY XYZ on the faculty. Faculty is inherently different at each school, and talking how it relates to the applicant should be a cinch. It helps to describe how recent research matches the interest. And it is NOT about describing the faculty in general terms. </p>
<p>How hard can it be to come up with 200 to 500 words?</p>
<p>It isn’t hard, xiggi. It just feels either rote or ingratiating. My guess is that the sole purpose of the question is to protect a college’s yield.</p>
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<p>That’s a lot of extra research when you’re applying to a dozen colleges, with most of them unlikely to accept you, and I don’t see it of being all that relevant for generalized undergrad study, especially since most applicants don’t yet know their intended major or are likely to change it before graduation. What’s wrong with simply saying, “School X has an outstanding reputation in my planned major(s)?”</p>
<p>I think the question is often added to dissuade applicants unlikely to attend if granted multiple options. My son had UPenn on his original list but dropped it when researching the “Why UPenn?” question because he could find no compelling reason that made the school a good fit other than its selectivity.</p>
<p>It can be that, but it also can be an excuse to learn a bit more about the school. In my kid’s case, “filling in the blanks” caused him to pre-identify a couple of campus organizations and summer programs that interested him at each school – and that he hadn’t known about before.</p>
<p>According to two college prep schools that I know well, the circle is getting tighter and tighter as to which schools kids are applying to. So even with fewer 18 year olds than in some earlier years, there are schools that are now getting much more attention, more apps and therefore are more selective. Also more kids are trying for these schools in terms of trying to get their resumes, working on essays, hiring consultants to get into this small group of schools. So for all of the applications a kid sends out, it’s the same colleges that are on their “A” lists , so no wonder one gets a lot of disappointed kids.</p>
<p>Most top 10 colleges don’t ask the “why us?” question. I don’t remember any of them asking, even during the interview.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why the word ingratiating is being used. It’s not ingratiating. It’s describing elements of fit.</p>
<p>Here’s an example. Suppose I had a stable of men lined outside my door waiting to date me. (A 25-year-married woman can dream!) And I asked each one - ok, tell me why I should say yes to you.</p>
<p>Ingratiating responses would be - because you’re so pretty, your hair is lovely, your eyes are gorgeous, blah blah blah. Well, I already know that since all the guys tell me the same thing. NEXT!</p>
<p>Maybe someone tries - but I’ve admired you from afar for years. It would really make me happy to be with you, to have you on my arm, etc. Well, I’m the one giving the favors here – it’s about what <em>I</em> want, not what <em>you</em> want. NEXT!</p>
<p>Now just imagine the guy who says - I took some time to find out some more things about you. From what I observe, you seem to enjoy X. You seem to value Y. You seem to really dig Z. Now, let me tell you a bit about myself. X is a real part of my life because blah blah blah. I’ve shown that I value Y when I do blah blah blah. Like you, I really think that Z is something special because I’ve done Z in the past and what I really got out of it was blah blah blah. </p>
<p>Do you see the difference between simple flattery / ingratiation, and finding out something about someone you want to be around and demonstrating why you’re a good fit?</p>
<p>And if someone can’t tell the difference – I give up. Seriously.</p>
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<p>This is always said as though it’s sneer-worthy or artificial, but if I were a college adcom, I WOULD only want to admit those students who will be delighted and choose me. I don’t want to be second-fiddle to their other choices, nor do I want my campus to be made up of people who really don’t want to be there. </p>
<p>In my dating example, I only want to say yes to the guys who will then say, “Great! Pick you up at 8!” Not “I’ve changed my mind, see you around.”</p>
<p>There’s too much about the way elite admissions works that seems capricious. For example, for a while it seemed the Adcoms were impressed with overseas service trips. Who knows how applicants first discovered that, but they did. Perhaps a few kids received acceptance letters with personal comments about that particular EC, and the word spread that that EC helped kids get into HYPS. As a result, more and more students began to do overseas service trips and suddenly it was pass</p>
<p>Very well written with very true statements indeed!</p>
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<p>I think the issue is some snowflakes actually do ECs without regard to how it impacts college admissions and those activities end up on their applications because that was how they spent their time. When it is an interesting activity, it may be impress an admissions committee. Duplicating that formula is probably pretty difficult. It is not externally motivated. imho ymmv</p>
<p>Bay,
Yes, to many adolescents it feels artificial. But it’s up to the adults in their lives to educate them about the difference between research and sincerity, and artificial flattery.</p>
<p>An example would be a thank-you note for a gift. The receiver may evaluate a collection of birthday or holiday gifts with varying enthusiasm, but the thank-you note focuses on what’s to love about that particular gift, how the receiver intends to use the gift, how he appreciates the “fit” of that gesture with what the receiver has previously communicated to the giver, etc. </p>
<p>We are not training them to lie or ingratiate. We are training them to discern value, articulate that value, and to personalize their appreciation.</p>
<p>Similar parallels can be drawn with job efforts. Asking them to role-play the employer, with you (we) playing the interviewee who shrugs her shoulders when asked Why Our Company? (or Why This Job?) is another approach.</p>
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<p>It is not really hard to tailor an answer to that question, which happens to be one of the silliest a school can ask. But it is their prerogative to see what the student come up with. Based on the regular samples provided on CC, it is also one question that is yielded the most shallow and unresearched answers by students who are confused by what they are supposed to write about. It is just an extension of how hard students find to write about themselves in meaningful ways. </p>
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<p>It could be true, except that not all colleges rely on the WHY US question. And, if they all were, it would diminish the crapshoot applications by applicants who do not put the necessary efforts to deserve an admission. </p>
<p>People love to use that crapshoot term to describe the results, but rarely for the applications themselves a la “I applied to all Ivies plus the other 8 to 10 highest list schools.” </p>
<p>And by the way, LI, answering “XYZ has a strong reputation in …” is exactly the type of answer NOT to submit. Too simplistic and demonstrating a lack of true interest. It is similar to say that one wants to attend Yale because of the architecture! Remember the old say about “Show and do not tell” Again, if a candidate cannot explain in simple and PERSONAL terms why he DID apply to a school, he probably should not have applied in the first place. </p>
<p>Pretty simple! And understandable why serial nilly-willy applicants contribute to the extremely high rejection rates.</p>
<p>True the direct question is going away. But CAlum, how long since you were interviewed?</p>
<p>And it’s not about yield. It’s to know if a kid is serious enough and thorough enough to have looked into the school. You may think that’s about yield, but a kid could be dead serious, it could be his dream school. And yet he wasnt up to building his knowledge.</p>
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There’s too much about the way elite admissions works that seems capricious. For example, for a while it seemed the Adcoms were impressed with overseas service trips. Who knows how applicants first discovered that, but they did. Perhaps a few kids received acceptance letters with personal comments about that particular EC, and the word spread that that EC helped kids get into HYPS. As a result, more and more students began to do overseas service trips and suddenly it was pass</p>
<p>^Ha, good point lookingforward.</p>
<p>Sometimes I forget how old I am.</p>
<p>If a student opts out of high school and contemporary society and lives like Thoreau for a year - that has the potential to create an interesting application if that student applies to college and has to explain himself/herself. imho. It is also a huge risk. I can’t imagine anyone would try it to create an interesting college application. They might do it with the idea of selling a book. Most likely it is just an enthusiasm for Walden Pond. However, if that college application is successful, and others try to duplicate the formula, are we really surprised they are unsuccessful?</p>