<p>As I apply to college, the most difficult essay questions I find are the why? essays. I have a hard time finding that information. Can anyone tell me what is unique about any of these schools:
Boston University
Tufts University
NYU - Poly
USC
Notre Dame
Vanderbilt
Cornell
Chicago
Pennsylvania
WUSTL</p>
<p>A response to any of these would be greatly appreciated</p>
<p>I can’t speak to most of the schools on your list, but BU really likes to point out the diverse student population and their global focus. They also have a pretty massive list of undergraduate research opportunities. (You probably already knew those things, though!)</p>
<p>I really think that the “why?” question is the hardest for the simple reason that it’s not something someone else can just give you the reasons for: your reasons for choosing the schools you are are yours and yours alone, and no one else can really speak for what they are. Is it because you love their commitment to an accepting environment for students of all backgrounds? Great. Do you really love that they’re a unique enough school to talk about the art department’s pet/mascot bunny and about the campus’s unusual number of albino squirrels in their brochures (One of the things I’ll be using for my “why?” about Macalester)? That’ll work just as well!</p>
<p>Sit down with everything you have about the schools for a while and brainstorm. Decide what really endears these schools to you on a personal level–that’s what this essay question is really asking, and it’ll get you a lot further to pick what really sticks out to you than something a CCer judges as being something the schools like about themselves.</p>