<p>Here's some stuff you might find useful for your why pratt engineering essay if you're having trouble with that:</p>
<p>1) Duke is in NC's Research Triangle Park (composed of UNC, Duke, and NC State universities). There are a number of large companies (IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, etc.) centered in RTP thats great for hiring/internships.</p>
<p>2) A number of very active student bodies (both engineering and not), including SmartHome, Motorsports, Engineers without borders, Engineering World Health, etc. (google these...)</p>
<p>3) Look up the classes offered at pratt.duke.edu if you want to show that you've put in the extra thought into Duke. For example, the first electrical engineering class an electrical engineer would take requires you to build your own tiny robot.</p>
<p>4) Extended research opportunities - Look up "Pratt Fellows" (this is a big one), indep study with profs (they really encourage this)</p>
<p>5) And then of course, all that Duke has to offer. A great History, Music, Econ dept among others (in case you want to take some classes there); DukeEngage (this is a big "general Duke" marketing point google it); great study abroad options; amazing weather; college life; basketball; etc...</p>
<p>I think the OP was just listing a variety of things so that everyone can find something he/she likes. Certainly don’t go listing every single one of those even if you happen to like them all. Focus on one or two things or things that have an overlap (e.g. if you are into environmental engineering and protection and that makes you interested in Pratt and the SmartHome, etc).</p>
<p>And of course the more generic stuff like DukeEngage and study abroad (I think it’s something like 25-30% of Pratt studies abroad while the national average for engineers who study abroad is in the LOW single digits).</p>
<p>It’s supposed to be 1-3 paragraphs so I’d limit it to 300 words or so maybe even less-- thats how much mine was when I applied a few years ago.</p>
<p>With a word limit that small, I personally feel it is much better to “show” than to tell. Do spend a sentence on two describing how/why in general engineering interests you, but move on quickly to (a) demonstrating your love for engineering if you have specific experiences (eg. My experience in my HS’s robotics club has…) and then (b) establish why Pratt in particular. Also, this is a why pratt essay: they’re looking for solid content (substance over style here).</p>
<p>As a general rule of thumb, if you can replace any university’s name with another university’s name in a “Why X university” essay, it is not a good essay…</p>
<p>^I structured mine with why engineering then why engineering at Duke, I focused on the research available along with the opportunity to be on such a great campus + all the b-ball!!!</p>