<p>I had a question about the Why This College? essays that nearly every college has on its supplement. What kind of balance do you have to strike between giving an original reason and giving a more common one, but one that is really important to the school and its identity. For example, take Columbia. The Core and the NYC location are probably the two most important and distinctive parts of the school, and people say that failing to address them in your essay shows that you lack a basic understanding of what makes the college special. However, I would think that nearly every student would mention those two factors in their essay, so if you talked about them as well, it would make your essay seem superficial and basic. A more original idea would stand out more. </p>
<p>Which approach, or combination of approaches, would work the best when writing an essay like this?</p>