Many colleges have supplemental essays along the lines of “Why do you want to come to our school? What’s so great about our school?”. Does anyone have any general tips or things to avoid when writing these? Thanks.
Honestly, I’d say just don’t make it seem like you’re applying to that school because it’s a safety, because it’s cheap, because it seems prestigious to you, or for some other superficial reason. You want to make it seem like this institution is unique to you. As if everything about it just clicks into place for you.
The ‘why’ essay should demonstrate that you’ve looked carefully enough at the school to talk intelligently about why it’s a good fit - them for you and you for them.
You can reference the course work offered in your area(s) of interest, the research undertaken by faculty in same, the clubs that would enable you to continue your high school ECs, the special programs that apply to your educational objectives (including study abroad opportunities), the unique mission of the school if they have one (i.e., Catholic school for someone Catholic), the location of the school if that makes a difference (i.e., you plan to do marine bio and they are next to the ocean), the relevant diversity if you are seeking a particular kind of diversity (example of URM-friendliness, for example), the great stories you’ve been told by friends and family who have attended, and any quirky-but-interesting detail that you picked up on your visit to the school (also worth mentioning).
Schools like these essays because it requires students to sell themselves on the school and acts as a ‘weed out’ for students who discover that they really don’t care enough about the place to look closely.
What to avoid? The essay that starts, ‘I’ve always wanted to go to School X’ - except that the essay went to School Y. Now that’s embarrassing.
Make sure it is not generic that you can simply replace the name of the school for another application. You need to know something specific about that school. Name the exact program or club(s) you are interested in. Learn their acronyms. Describe why these program/club are important to you. Do not just boast how great this school or the program is. The adcom are not interested in reading a promotional article for their own school. What is important is about YOU in this school.
There is good advice on this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/1705515-some-help-with-why-this-school.html#latest
@ClaremontMom Thanks for the thread. Great advice there!
Yes, at the Swarthmore information session, they specifically said, don’t make your “Why Swarthmore” essay possible if you substituted some other small liberal arts college for “Swarthmore”.
My two cents is that do not primarily focus on the city the school is located in, but rather the school itself.