<p>ok, question, for the essays that are like "why do you want to go to our school?", how should one go about those? like obviously, it's important to write something that stands out, but that seems like such a hard question to be creative with. do i need to be creative, necessarily? or can i just write well and from the heart, but straightforward? like "i like this, and here's why"</p>
<p>also, when i'm researching the college so i can write what i like about them, i'm worried i'm going to write about things that all other colleges have. for example, what if i talked about the diversity the college has? or the amount of clubs/organizations offered? or small teacher to student ratio? these are things that are really important to me, but that many other colleges have, no? or are they good things to write about for this kind of prompt? steer me in the right direction, please!</p>
<p>PS. i'm talkin bout Ivies here, so please give me feedback that's strong enough to be admitted by those kinds of colleges!</p>
<p>be sincere
yes, researched specifics like diversity and clubs and teacher/student ratio are all good to write about.
these essays are usually pretty short, so they shouldn't be grueling</p>
<p>Remember, "Why <college>?" essays aren't really about the school itself. They already know they're great, have diverse students, and x00 clubs. What they know very little about is you. As taken from [url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/311877-how-college-essays.html%5Didamayer's%5B/url">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/311877-how-college-essays.html]idamayer's[/url</a>] guide, "Why ____?" essays are about the college you're applying to trying to see if you'd fit there. Most applicants at selective colleges are plenty qualified to attend, but they want to know if you're a match for there. As shocking as it may sound (sarcasm), HYPS have more than geographical differences among them. Try and find some concrete program(s) or aspects of the place you're applying that appeal to you, and that you can show (and prove) you'd fit in with. Some quick examples could be Caltech's pizza classes, Yale's organic food, etc., but try to find your own.</college></p>
<p>Since you're looking at Ivies, they really want to try and see if you aren't applying to them just for their prestige and USNWR ranking. It's safe to say that if admissions were based solely on personality, no one should get into Brown, Yale, and Dartmouth - every Ivy is different, and they want to try and see why you're choosing to apply to X, Y, and Z (or worse, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z) without considering what you like about each one. Take your time on "Why ____?" essays - ideally, you'd want each to be mostly unique.</p>
<p>DS has submitted all his applications except for the one school that asked the "why...." question. </p>
<p>I thought he should write about his selection process leading up to his visits to a few schools (geographic, major,etc) then comment on the specifics of why this particular school is the right fit based on the coursework (as an architecture major he has different options) and what he physically likes about the school. </p>
<p>DS wants to go into more detail about why he selected his major (more personal and not really answering the "why" question in my opinion) and then comment on why this school is a fit. </p>
<p>Of course the final decision is his, and he's written it both ways. What does everyone here think?</p>
<p>The advice I've gotten about this type of essay is that it needs to sound very specific to the particular school you're writing about- hence, just mentioning low student/facutly ratios, diversity, etc isn't enough. There are a ton of schools that have that. You can mention that, but the focus should be on what makes that school UNIQUE. Basically, if you can substitute school X for school Y in the essay and it fits for both, then it is not a good "why X?" essay.</p>