For instance, is it important to mention the open curriculum in a “Why Brown?” essay? I had assumed that a ton of applicants would be mentioning it, and so I avoided it altogether.
Similarly, would it be important for someone to mention the Core or NYC in a “Why Columbia?” essay?
Seems like mentioning your like of things specific to the school (whether or not it is the same things everyone else writes), as opposed to things that many other schools have, would be what they are looking for.
Mentioning the open curriculum or the core are reasonable if you tie it back to why they are meaningful to you and how you would like to utilize them. (Hint: don’t say you love the open curriculum because you want to avoid ever taking another math or history class again)
These schools already know their unique features. Do not MENTION it, describe how you will use it to enhance your education.
I think so, but in a way where it shows your presence at the school and not just why you like/love the school. If you include details rather than generalizing it shows you have enough interest that you put extra time into your application. Schools want students that want them as well. While they’re aware they may be safety schools (unless they’re schools like Harvard or Yale), they do not want to think of themselves that way. An essay or supplement that shows greater interest an effort may persuade a rep to choose you over someone with very similar stats.
Talk about whatever make that particular school special to you/why the idea of going to that school excites you and why. It can literally be about anything that the experience of attending that school offers to students.
Ideally, the Why X essay should be so specific that there’s no way you could possibly be talking about any other school. You also want to focus on unique and nuanced parts of the school.
Bad examples: open curriculum/core––everyone writes about this. good weather––same problem. love the majors––same problem.
Good examples: specific professors that align with research interests. a cool study abroad program.
^^^IMO it is OK to pick something that is common (such as open curriculum – agree that weather is a bad topic) if that is something that truly excites you about the school – the trick is to express why it that attribute is particularly important to YOU and what YOU hope to achieve in college. Citing pecific things such as a particular program/professor are fine as well (although IMO study abroad programs would also be a common topic).
The essay is a chance to let the college admission officers know 1) more about what you want to experience over the next four years 2) that you have done some research about the school and 3) why you feel that school could be a great match!
Open curriculum is not actually that common.
I think they’re referring to how many people writing a “Why Brown” essay will talk about the open curriculum and that answer being very common.