<p>If I'm going to be honest with myself, a large portion of my college decision process was based on comparing the relative merits of schools. Would it be bad to discuss this in a "Why X" essay? (Of course, I won't be bashing anybody.)</p>
<p>Here’s an outline of the essay I am referring to (for my ED college):
- I attempt to quantify the perfect college choice with weighted data in a spreadsheet.
- With my top choice college in fourth place on the weighted list, I decide to visit, and I mention the aspects of the tour that appealed to me.
- At the end of the tour, the guide said something about how it was impossible to use hard data to choose a college (without knowing about my attempt to do just that), and he said we should choose the college where we could see ourselves during the spring of senior year.
- I use the guides comments as an opportunity to discuss what I want to do at the college.</p>
<p>EDIT: This essay is extremely honest. The first section mentions multiple schools that were originally ranked above my current top choice, but the visit totally altered my view of the college, and I realized it was, in fact, the best fit for me.</p>
<p>First, isn’t this for Brown’s 200 word “Why Brown” essay? If you can fit all that into 200 words, either you’re a god of the English language or you’re not adequately covering the “aspects of the tour that appealed to me” part, which is really what you need to cover. Second, I would avoid comparing it to other colleges, especially if those other colleges are also prestigious names. This just makes you look like you’re chasing prestige. It’s like saying “Princeton is my top choice because it’s my favorite Ivy League school.” Come on, how pretentious does that sound? I don’t see any compelling reason why you should mention other colleges when you could just as easily leave it off. “Here’s what happened on my tour that I loved, here’s some stuff my tour guide said that I loved,” should be more than enough. If you really want to mention anything about a comparison, I’d just say maybe a sentence like “I never considered Brown my top choice until I visited and realized statistics can’t tell me where I’d be happiest for the next four years,” and leave it at that.</p>
<p>When people feel the need to tell me how honest they are being, I begin to question their honesty. Just say why you are interested in school X. You are going to apply to more than one school. I would assume you would have reasons for making applications for each school. Besides, your college decision process really doesn’t begin until you are accepted.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, @geo1113. I have decided to scrap this essay idea because I feel like any possible comparison would focus too much on my choosing between colleges. In retrospect, any comparison between top-level colleges is bound to sound pretentious because it would be incredible to attend any of them. At this level, the colleges choose the students, not vice versa, and assuming otherwise comes off as extremely entitled.</p>
<p>EDIT: Cool. I just bashed my essay idea more than anyone else.</p>
<p>Excellent, DB. You have an open mind and that will serve you well in life. Good luck. </p>