<p>Any advice on writing the "Why this college?" essay for schools you haven't visited yet? My S is applying to 2 schools that we did not get to in our first round of college visits. So at the moment they're "looks good on paper" schools and if accepted he would visit on an accepted students visit day/weekend and decide if they're truly "perfect fit" schools. But it's hard to write an essay saying "this is the perfect school for me because..." when he doesn't really know that for sure yet! (The schools are Cornell and CMU.) Thoughts and advice? My S is really procrastinating those two essays because he's not sure what to tell them. Presumably it's what is attractive "on paper" but would love some advice to get him started. I assume they don't want to hear what great schools they are, or the usual stuff like that but something a bit more individual.</p>
<p>great question, I don’t know</p>
<p>There must be specific things that attracted him to those schools. If they’re things that point exclusively to the one school whose application he’s completing, then so much the better. My D applied to urban schools where she could continue the study of Arabic that she began in HS. She was able to explain why those particular schools constituted an ideal fit for her (and vice versa).</p>
<p>It is difficult to write these essays without visiting the school. He should spend some time on the school websites, and other websites that describe the school. He can then write the essay about specific things about the school that appeal to him and areas where he can contribute to the school. for example, he can discuss a specic major, club sport, professor, or EC that interests him. The most important thing is to keep it specific to the school, and not just the location. Good luck.</p>
<p>reading students’ publications can help him get some feel for the campus vibe. You can usually find a link to those on the school’s web site.</p>
<p>Is it ok to include the location, as long as there are also specifics about the school? For Cornell, location is a big plus for him.</p>
<p>By the way, do you think he should <em>say</em> that he hasn’t had the opportunity to visit yet? For CMU the reason is that it’s pretty far, and for Cornell the reason is that he just “discovered” it recently.</p>
<p>This is a no brainer question. Why is it on his/her application list? What attracted him/her to apply? What differentiated this college from the 3000 other colleges in the country? Really this should be the EASIEST question a student answers. A visit is nice, but if the student hasn’t visited just answer WHY the student applied. You say your student just “discovered” Cornell, well what was it when he “discovered” that made him apply? How did he discover, was he looking for something specific. It can be anything…but really this should be the easiest question a student answers.</p>
<p>600 miles driving distance is almost too near. </p>
<p>your son needs to be a bit further to get the full benefit of college. </p>
<p>Just wait until he gets his first permanent employment or GF that lives in LA. A distinct possibility for CMU.</p>
<p>Really, he’s looking for a rigorous CS program in the northeast, with some game design opportunities. But saying you’re interested in one of those schools because of their rigorous CS program, or even their game program, seems rather un-original and non-specific. Especially if location isn’t supposed to enter into the essay, “you guys have a really great CS program” doesn’t seem like enough to say :)</p>
<p>As long as he’s far enough that he can’t just come home because he wants his laundry done, I think he’ll be fine 
He’s considering schools as close as 1 hour drive and as far as 9 hours (CMU) and I truly think he’ll get the full college experience at any of them (especially since he doesn’t own a car, and probably won’t anytime soon, and we don’t have bus/train service into our town, so no matter where he goes it will be a bit of a challenge to get home). I really don’t think he’ll settle anywhere that doesn’t get a “proper” winter, but if he gets a job (or a GF) in LA, good for him!</p>
<p>Well, son applied to top CS schools, having never visited. Actualy, he did go to a meeting for Caltech. CMU was always a top choice. He wrote about the programs, not the location. He did arrange for an interview, but was unable to get to meet anyone from either CS or engineering from CMU. Everything about his ECs showed an interest in CS/science.</p>
<p>The first time he visited any of these colleges was after accepted.</p>
<p>So, I’m a student/applicant, but I wrote a lot of these essays since I ended up applying to a lot of schools I didn’t visit. I sort of developed a formula where I talked about the department I wanted to study (I’m looking for a very specific major at some schools) and then specific extra-curricular things at that school. One of the things to keep in mind is to always be specific. For example, I’m really interested in comedy writing, so I found YouTube clips of campus improv troupes and talked a bit about what I liked in the performances and how I thought the types of jokes in the performances reflected the attitude of the students in the school. So perhaps your son could write about some specific projects the CS students are doing at the various schools? If he’s interested in game design, what kinds of game design projects are going on there? It’s a little more research, but the specificity makes for a stronger essay.</p>
<p>My son got into Rice without visiting. And since his stats were very good but not great I think his essays probably helped.</p>
<p>He wrote about things that you can learn without visiting. For instance, Rice has a college system like Oxford, Harvard and Hogwarts, and that was appealing to him. There are other things that are right on the website that distinguish one college from another. In this case the low student faculty ratio, for example.</p>
<p>And there were even some things he learned from CC that influenced his decision to apply and I believe he mentioned them also.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I confused you about the location. I meant, that it shouldn’t be about the city that could apply to other schools in that city. It’s fine if he wants to discuss specifics about the campus.</p>
<p>I also think it’s fine to discuss the CS program, but try to mention a specific course or professor that interests him.</p>
<p>It can be literally anything. It doesn’t have to be earthshaking, it doesn’t have to be academic unless that is important. You simply want to tell admissions why you chose to apply to this particular college. My son’s roommate wrote his “why xyz” telling them he saw and ad and it “spoke to him”. Admissions never forget him and called him at the end of freshman year and wanted to talk to him about the ad, where he saw it, etc. etc. they never forgot his essay. All you need to do is stop for one second and ask yourself why you applied to this college and write down the answer. I don’t see why it couldn’t be the location…plenty of colleges use their location as a positive. Maybe your’re a big city kid and you long to spend some time in a small town in a rural area. Maybe the school is well known for some esoteric major that is difficult to find. Maybe you spend your weekends sailboat racing and don’t want to give that up. Admissions officers just want to know what it was that made you apply. They aren’t passing judgement on whether your reason is good enough or not, they just want to see if you’ve actually put any thought into that decision to apply and what is was that caused you to make that decision.</p>
<p>Every department has a website that describes their program in detail. He can look at those, and see what unique features attract him to each school.</p>
<p>“But saying you’re interested in one of those schools because of their rigorous CS program, or even their game program, seems rather un-original and non-specific.” - If it’s the truth, it seems ok to me. </p>
<p>I suspect that LOTS of students applying to Cornell and CMU have not visited. It would be good for the essay to show evidence that the student has at least researched the school.</p>
<p>FYI - Carnegie Mellon has a “Sleeping Bag Weekend”(SBW) in January.
[Dates</a>, Deadlines & Fees :: Sleeping Bag Weekend](<a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/enrollment/admission/sbw/dates.html]Dates”>http://www.cmu.edu/enrollment/admission/sbw/dates.html)</p>
<p>We attended SBW last year because we knew DS had a decent chance of acceptance (he was not applying to the ultra competitive CS), and we knew that DS’s schedule would not allow April visits. I got the impression that his SBW attendance was seen as a plus by Admissions, even though that was not our aim. The January SBAw visit gave us a long time to contemplate pros (campus was nicer than expected) and cons (I hear FA is decent, but don’t expect any merit aid) . If time and budget permit, I highly recommend Sleeping Bag Weekend (parents can attend too, but it is not required).</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up on the SBW. It looks great but I don’t think it will work with our schedule – we probably will have to wait for a spring visit.</p>
<p>I think that CMU has an “Accepted Students” weekend in April. Good luck!</p>