I realized that the “Why Us” essay I made for Princeton fails to identify any specific programs, how screwed am I? I feel like the rest of my essays are pretty strong
I don’t think that you have to mention specific programs, but it does need to answer the question. If you could submit your essay to all T10 schools, that is likely too generic. You also don’t have to say that only the one school will fulfill your needs.
Assuming you don’t get in (and the odds are strongly against the perfect student), you’ll never know why - as it’s estimated their acceptance rate is 3 to 4%.
Ultimately, if you write an easy that appears like you copy pasted to multiple schools - I don’t know if it’d eliminate you but it certainly wouldn’t help.
I read a lot of “why us” essays that mention specific programs, courses and professors. I often suggest that other factors like size, location, and “vibe” be mentioned.
Often the programs cited are offered at many schools and don’t distinguish one from the other. Mentioning them shows the effort level involved in googling the school website and doing a little research.
We don’t know what you wrote so it is hard to comment, but I believe it is possible to write a decent “why us” without mentioning specific programs.
Often the “why us” essay is important to schools that are used as backups. Yield is an important stat. Princeton may be a first choice for many so that essay may be less important for them. In any case this essay is probably not going to be a deciding factor for admission.