How did you answer the "Why [school]" Essay

<p>I am in the process of doing my application and i am not sure how to answer these, except for my Duke Essay. I mean i would like to go to the schools bc they have good academics or campuses i like.
These are the schools and next to it is why i want to go:
Yale-BS/MS program in chemistry (and prestige doesn't hurt)
Duke-already did that one
UPenn-BS/MS program, policy that allows ppl to take classes in about anything, no loans
Cornell-Sprawling campus, and cold, i am from texas H-town and i would love the snow, but i don't know if that is a good reason</p>

<p>So what did you write for this, and any suggestion on how i can make these reasons into a good why [school] essay?</p>

<p>Just be honest. It doesn't have to be a completely original essay that reveals a lot about you, as with the personal essay. It's just a few paragraphs about why you want to go.</p>

<p>Here are some remarks:
- You want to go to Cornell because it's cold and you would love the snow. Well, let me tell you, if I were reading your essay, I would say, "This guy can go to Hoolala Community college in New York! It snows a ton there!" REJECT. </p>

<p>What an awful reason. You couldn't have seriously thought that the snow was a good reason to go to Cornell? I mean, what would you have thought if you read that an applicant wanted to attend Cornell University, a selective college, because of the lovely white snow?</p>

<p>For Cornell, I wrote about a little story about me and my friend. Basically how I got interested in what I did...and how I can only pursue it at Cornell. =]</p>

<p>Be original!</p>

<p>i think this is a real good question to find out how much a student knows about their school. so i would research the school a bit. learn about the different traditions at the school? Or maybe the school allows you to take a variety of classes in all our the colleges so you can pursue all your interests? This question, I believe, shows how invested you are in a school. so don't make it just "I want to go here because". BE CREATIVE. have fun & good luck.
I hope my rambalings somehow helped?!</p>

<p>^ The thing is, you don't have to be creative and wacky in your Why? essay. It depends on your mood, I guess. When I wrote my Why Swarthmore? essay, I knew that the admissions deans just wanted a straightforward answer (the admissions dean herself told me) so I wrote it like that. I wrote with enthusiasm, of course, and I liked the ending to my UChicago essay (yeah, I guess you could say the ending was creative). Be creative if you feel like it, but it's not as important as having good reasons. And, morganrichman, remember, you still haven't gotten accepted into college.</p>