<p>mine is a bit creative… but to the core its still not as <em>personal</em> as ANY of my other essays for stanford or for common app schools. </p>
<p>anyone here make theirs very personal? because I don’t see how you can just start talking about all the good things in penn/philly with just one annecdote…</p>
<p>Mine wasn't personal at all. I was just open about what I like about Penn and why I want to go there and why I want to major in business. There was no "artistic" curve to it at all</p>
<p>Same here...all i had was 4 paragraphs describing 4 reasons i wanted to go to Penn. It was short and to the point, i think.</p>
<p>In addition to "Why Penn?", be sure to include "Why Me?", i.e. what your contributions to the school will be.</p>
<p>Ya, do "why me" and "why Penn" and combine the two but also try to add a twist to everything, just a twist, not a gimmick. I set my Why Penn in the future, my regional rep said that the committee comended it for a risk and it was creative, but they really want one set in the present!</p>
<p>Don't think its a must to be creative. JUST be yourself, that's more important in my honest opinion. Give the real reasons why you want to go to penn, and if you are really sincere about it, it'll naturally show in your essay. Do not be pretentious in your language, and try to use magnimous and showy words, it'll kill you.</p>
<p>good luck dude</p>
<p>all i did was find as many things at teh school that i liked and then include them in my essay mentioning why they were great for me...for example i mentioned i found out SEAS has a study abroad program in Israel, and being a Jew and avid traveler it would be an opportunity I'd love to have. I'd say i had maybe 10-15 things like that...maybe more. And I divided the whole thing up into Academics, ECs, and city and campus..or something like that</p>
<p>How many words was your guys'?</p>
<p>jhumm: can you elaborate the difference between a twist and a gimmick?</p>
<p>right now my essay kinda sounds like both..</p>
<p>honestly, the second essay is meant to be the creative essay. the first essay should really be more analytical. show penn that you can write well in both styles.</p>
<p>hey pinkmuscat, what school do you go to in Seattle? I go to U Prep.</p>
<p>Actually, I think that I defeated the dreaded WHY PENN! Mine is very personal and it focuses on one universal reason why I want to go to Penn. I felt really good after i wrote it. I'll probably post it after January 1st to see what you guys think of it.</p>
<p>I think than mine will be truly unique.</p>
<p>U PREP! that is so close to my house, cept not really. a couple miles isnt too far considering people on this site come from singapore, i guess. my sister is applying to u prep next year, but i go to lakeside. wow. i might have seen you before. that is pretty scary.</p>
<p>What I did was I talked about the reasons I wanted to go to Penn, explaining why, say, the joint-degree programs particularly appeal to me as a person. That way, they can hear about you as well as why you want to go :)</p>
<p>I think that is what makes mine unique. I didn't focus on any tangible aspect of the university. i focused on the social i.e networking, personal views shared among students etc...</p>
<p>i think thats important robertson, but i don't think you should neglect the tangibles...i may work for you but i wouldnt put it out as a general why penn strategy...tangibles like the campus, and the city are important..its good to play up the access to the city...theyve sepnt years trying to integrate themselves well...and mentioning specific courses, programs, and clubs is realy important too..i dunno i just feel like its smart to try to hit multiple aspects of the school</p>
<p>There's no right and wrong here, but that said, I agree with everything lishnik said PLUS I think the most important thing is to convince the school that you've done your HW, know Penn and what it has to offer, and can say why you are such a good fit for the school and why the school is such a good fit for you. It can get personal, too, especially if you've had experiences at Penn that you want to talk about here - from your visits etc. Show a sense of passion for where you are coming from as well as what you hope to do when you get there.</p>
<p>bump it up</p>
<p>yea what collegecountdown said is imporant as well..i forgot to say that...the more that it looks like you did your research on the school the better your essay sounds...for example if you could find about about some kind of club or activity or event that not many people would know about...throw that in there</p>
<p>in my deferral essay i'm sending, i'm doing another "why penn" because thats what my rep suggested, i'm throwing an awesome twist plus mentioning many things unique to me, i can surely say my essay will be interesting</p>