<p>what exactly is bates looking for in their ‘why bates’ question. not content wise, but tone wise. should it be formal? or is it okay to talk about myself a little bit?</p>
<p>hi, juicy
i think it is okay to talk about yourself a little bit. </p>
<p>by the way, i am a deferred international applicant of Bates</p>
<p>well, its a little late becuase the app is due today, but i think that not only is it ok to talk about yourself, but you should talk about yourself. they want to know why you'll fit in at bates, and what you can add.</p>
<p>i'm a senior applying to bates.</p>
<p>they want to know why u choose bates above any other school. what distinguishes from all the other schools u saw and visited? what is special about it? what can u add to the mix? probably most important essay there is to the admissions committee. daughter is a freshman there and loves it, by the way</p>
<p>yes! the why bates question is the most important essay in the application...I asked them some time back whether not sending my SATs will make a difference..they replied by saying no...and in the end they also said that i should be focusing more on the supplement essay as that is very important!!</p>
<p>The weird thing is, the commonapp really didn't give you room to write much for the supplement essay. I struggled trying to decide whether to write more about myself or why I want to go to Bates. I ended up doing 50/50. Let's just hope they like my imagery.</p>
<p>Is it only me or is there also anyone else who dislikes these "Why ______?"? I understand they want to have a little knowledge of why you want to attend, however is it still a morally right to write eight essays for eight different schools, each saying I want to go to your school so, so much!? </p>
<p>And even if it was right morally (you caught me, I am taking a course on philosophy and currently reading Sophie's World), the admission officers do realize that most often you are not sincere, but only speaking in a college-friendly PR/BS words, don't they?</p>
<p>For that matter, I enjoyed the Colgate's or Harvard's essays much more (and would have enjoyed UPenn's one, had I applied).</p>
<p>I too hate those essays, and also, love Styron. Sophie's Choice (I assume that's what you meant), is amazing.</p>
<p>The books titles are quite confusing. I've also read fabulous Styron's Sophie's Choice, yet Sophie's World is a sort of philosophy text book in a friendly novel form by a Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder.</p>
<p>It's especially hard to write a "Why ______" essay if you're an international student who has never visited any college/university in the U.S.</p>
<p>I too prefer the supplements that have no "Why _____?", even if the questions are harder, different, and actually require thinking.</p>
<p>Curiously enough, most of the colleges I'm applying to with Jan.1 deadline had a Why ______ question, and most of the colleges with AFTER Jan. 1 deadline have different questions.</p>
<p>I could always come up with some reason why I wanted to attend that particular school - I mostly did a research on their sites regarding their debate societies and dept economics, on which I then tried to elaborate.</p>
<p>Deadlines variation: I noticed that also. I still have a few more schools where I might apply so I hope their essay prompts will let me be a little more creative :)</p>