<p>Do most people honestly have specific things that draw them to every college? Do I really need a reason for applying to an ivy league other than that it's an ivy league? Or for any prestigious/top ranked university for that matter? </p>
<p>The way I've been writing the essays is pretty much writing about myself and what I'm looking for in a university and what I want as an educational experience, then looking around their website and finding random things that appeal to me in that sense and can help me get the experience I want. Is that bad? Do I need to go into more detail about the actual school?</p>
<p>Bump can someone please give me tips. Any other essay I can destroy but these are so irritating and I’m not sure if I’m doing what they’re looking for.</p>
<p>Here’s what I wrote in a previous post, with apologies to those who have seen this a million times:</p>
<p>Many of the supplemental essay prompts are some variety of “Why this school?” And it seems so hard to write. What do you say? What do you really know about the school? Unfortunately, so many times the final essay will go on about how awesome the school is, how great the faculty is, and how unbelievable certain programs are.</p>
<p>And that’s so wrong.</p>
<p>Tip #1: The essay needs to be about YOU. The schools don’t want to hear about themselves. They want to know why their school would be a good fit for YOU. What are YOU interested in and why would their school provide that for you?</p>
<p>Tip #2: You don’t want to come across as blindly in love with the school. Never say things like “I’ve wanted to go Great State University since I was two years old.” Or “Going to Great State would be the culmination of a lifetime dream.” As a matter of fact, you want to be just a little aloof. You want to come across as: “I wondered if Great State would be a fit, so I investigated…”</p>
<p>Tip #3: (Pardon this crude analogy, but it really works here). Imagine that the school is a classmate of the opposite sex that you really would like to date. How would you approach that person? Would you walk up and say “You’ve been my dream date since I started thinking about girls/guys”…? Of course not. It would be a turn-off and you would come across as a little nutty and desperate. And you know desperate does not work. What would work is… “Hey, I love sci fi movies and I heard that you might also.” A little cool and casual might win the day.</p>
<p>Tip #4: Don’t laugh at Tip #3. It works.</p>
<p>Let’s look at the following essay on “Why Stanford?” and analyze it:</p>
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</p>
<p>Nowhere does it rave about how great Stanford is in general. Nowhere does it talk about prestige. The general tone was: “I felt at home, so I did my research to see if Stanford might POSSIBLY be a fit for ME. And it WAS!”</p>
<p>It was NOT love at first sight… not yet. But there was that air of possibility. Only after I got to know the place did it look like there was a match. Just like with a person… even if there is chemistry on the first date, you don’t declare everlasting love. How much stronger will it seem if that declaration only comes after you get to know the person in depth?</p>
<p>Oh perfect so I was pretty much on the right track? Talk about my interests, what I’m looking for, and mention some stuff about the school how it could fit my needs? But focus on the school fitting your needs, and don’t just go on and on about the school? Ahhh thank you so much. The only essays I have left to write are these and I wasn’t sure how to approach them so I’ve been stuck. Would you mind looking over one or two I wrote to see if I am doing what they’re looking for?</p>