If you currently attend Northwestern, can you please give me some tips? What really stood out in your essay? Thanks!
Best advice would be to make it personal for why Northwestern specifically is the ideal school for you. If you are interested in a particular program, speak to how Northwestern offers something that is not found anywhere else. You can also discuss different elements of the campus community that caught your attention (i.e. clubs, sports, research, etc). I found it best to write about specific opportunities Northwestern offers that would help prepare me for my career aspirations and how I planned on utilizing those resources. Of course, the prompt “Why Northwestern” allows you go in any direction you wish, so pick an avenue that showcases your passion for the school and why it is the best fit. Hope that helps and feel free to PM me with any more questions!
To orangerclock: Could you elaborate on the tone please?
Shall the essay be more creative and different with a personal touch, like the common app essay?
I am also struggling with how to appraoch this mentally. I dont want to be too boring, but dont want to be off track either.
Creative or sincere? Thanks.
And to Steadymaintain, good luck to you. This whole process will be over soon, and we could all breathe.
I think the biggest thing with Why X’ is to write something where you cannot just substitute X with Y and make it awhy Y’ essay. Talking in general terms about quality of academics etc. won’t achieve that. Referring to specific programs/classes/professors/campus resources etc. would work. You can always make it about you, but it has to be in context of specifics of the opportunities, and not generic for any school.
@Kadel1023 In terms of tone, it can really depends on what sort of story you are trying to tell or what exactly you are trying to convey in your essay. If you are looking for specific direction, I suppose the most successful essays find how to convey a sense of urgency without sounding desperate, sound knowledgeable about what they want/why they fit Northwestern without being arrogant, and bring enthusiasm without sounding trite.
And on your second point, I would emphasize being direct about what you are trying to say. If you can present the information in a creative way, great, but do not sacrifice clarity and sincerity for trying to write an out-there essay just to impress admissions. They give you 300 words for a reason, so give them real substance about why you are a fit for Northwestern and vice versa.
If you dive deep into why Northwestern suits you better than any other university, it will not be boring. And I completely agree with @osuprof as well.
Hope that helps and best of luck! Let me know if you have any more questions!
@Kadel1023 are you applying ed?
@orangeclockwork How do I PM you? It won’t let me. I really appreciate the help!
My top three are NU, Michigan, and Case. Depending on the day, I may use ED on Case or NU.
Nice @Kadel1023