<p>anybody can tell me how to write a successful why essay
I am stuck with it........lol</p>
<p>This is my formula for the Why Essay:
A) Avoid trite essays talking about majestic college environments, world-class professors and wonderful academics. Also avoid topics that should have been covered in your other essays; the why essay should be devoted solely to information you've gathered about that specific college (this is where it pays to know a lot about activities, research, blah blah)
B) Be specific in this essay: you can talk about a professor who's doing research that is interesting to you, expound on the amazing sports programs featured in that college, describe artistically the moment you sat in the courtyard watching the breeze playfully push leaves across the grass amidst crowds of students whose intellectual brilliance belie the calm atmosphere of the University. General rules also apply to this essay; be unique, be specific, be original, be sincere, write piercingly
C) This is the important part: Quirks! Idiosyncrasies! What makes your college different from other colleges. I'm not talking about academics or sports; I'm talking about weird traditions and funny **** that people do. Stanford, for example, is so much better than the Ivies (perhaps biased) because it's not all about serious studying; first of all, Stanford has these funny abbreviations for it's facilities (HooTow for Hoover Tower, MemAud, MemChu, Frosoco...); they also have a funny band, in which some members can 't play instruments at all; they're given instruments to throw up during games. Point: having insider knowledge about your college's quirks helps your essay.
D) Misc things you might consider: if you didn't have humor in your previous essays, here's your chance to include some funnys to further flesh out your personality on paper. Try not to write too much about too many things; concentrate on things that interest you.</p>
<p>I agree with a few points of Student010's post above. However, I don't think you should approach this essay trying to talk about the whole watching leaves blow around while intelligent students walked around you and made you feel good, haha. I think saying something like that is like appreciating a college based on its looks (its campus). You want to write an essay that shows a personal connection between you and the reader. It's great if you can incorporate athletics, clubs, and academics all into your essay, but don't be afraid to go really in depth on something you love about the school. From a previous thread on Why essays, a good test to see how unique your essay is to replace all the "X university" with "Y university" and see if it still makes sense. It shouldn't. I personally, wrote a detailed essay talking about the many aspects of a certain subject for a school. Of course I didn't only talk about professors. I talked about professors, students, research, and other resources (some unique). I hope this helps.</p>
So should we only write one point and go deep with that or we can write about various points? really confused right now… :-S
Search back in this forum for help: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/1705515-some-help-with-why-this-school.html
Old thread
Why not start with a bullet list-- why ARE you considering that school over all the other possibilities?
Corollary: If it’s hard to answer that, maybe you shouldn’t apply to this particular school.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: This thread is from 2008! Use old threads for reference only.