And, of course, this’ll let you include mentions of your awards and accomplishments, like your longest consecutive streak of beer pong games won; number of trips taken to the West Coast for, um, recreational purposes; longest keg stand; and the like. And be sure to make all party pictures on your social media publicly viewable—you wouldn’t want the admissions committee to miss them!
First things first, before you enjoy the ‘vibrant social scene,’ you need to get in. If your main reason in your essays is wanting to party, you probably are not going to get in. Even if this is true, DO NOT write that! Colleges do not admit people so that they can spend their time partying, they do it because they are interesting, intelligent people. In your essays, write something that the admissions officers will not immediately disapprove of.
The people making the admissions decisions are NOT The same people who take pride in the party reputation of a school. Admissions people take pride in the school’s academics, in the great research they do, in what they contribute to the world in terms of volunteerism, in the diversity of their student body, in the great things their graduates have accomplished.
Implying that you’re there to party implies that academics are a distant second priority. It implies that the odds are decent that you’ll be too drunk or stoned to attend class and are a risk for not graduating. It gives them a clear message that you’re a poor choice as a potential student for their school.
If it really is a top priority for you, then choose the cheapest school you can find. Find a community college with dorms-- there are some out there. Otherwise, you may find yourself tens of thousands of dollars in debt for a year of partying, with few or no college credits at the end of that year.
I think OP gets the message. OP, just find OTHER things you like about the school and write about them. I agree with the others. Sometimes honesty isn’t the best policy.
There’s an interview with admissions officers kicking around somewhere, asking them about worst essays. Several of them mention how they have read more than one “the night I lost my virginity” essay. They mention how, despite the fact that to the writer, it was obviously an amazing thing, it is certainly not amazing to the reader of the essay. That’s something that is best kept to yourself. They know what’s wrong with their school. They want to read about what’s right with their school and why you should be part of it.
^ yow. Any writing should be relevant to a college admission review. Be smart enough to show what they do value.
Ahem. Be smart enough to know what that is. OP may be pulling our legs.
Very possibly. But he advice to be cognizant of what matters to the reader is still valid.
Haha, OP was not pulling your legs, but I think I’ve gotten the point by now. Of course the schools I picked weren’t entirely based on the social scene, it just helped me decide between colleges similar in academics. I’ll make sure to focus on the academics portion, and only briefly mention the social scene (not even using the word ‘party’)
Thanks for the help everyone! (except the people who mocked me)
Why mention the social scene at all?? They know their schools reputation. They’re capable of reading between the lines.
I would concentrate on all this reasons that they choose to work there…all the non-social reasons people choose to attend that school.
Good luck.