<p>For people who have written their "why swarthmore" essay already, about how long is your essay/how long should the essay be?</p>
<p>Also...how creative of an approach did you take? I'm afraid mine is not straightforward enough...it's also over 500 words which I'm afraid is too long.</p>
<p>My Why Swat essay is 700 words, so if 500 is too long, then i'm in trouble.:)</p>
<p>My Why Swat essay is 700 words, so if 500 is too long, then i'm in trouble.:)</p>
<p>Mine is 366 at the moment. I think if they really cared about length they would have specified what they wanted, but on the paper app they give you about 3/4 of a page to write. So if it would have trouble fitting there in reasonable typeface, it might be more than they were looking for?</p>
<p>In terms of straightforwardness, I'd say take a non-straightforward approach to writing and organizing it, but make sure to slip in a bunch of the same information you'd write in a straightforward essay. It's not a laundry list of reasons--pick specific moments or incidents to illustrate your points. Make it something someone would actually want to read.</p>
<p>My essay is currently about 650 words. I may try to cut out another 50 or so, but I'm really not worrying too much about the length. It fits easily on the page that they allow.</p>
<p>Mine actually did come out quite straightforward. I originally wrote a more "creative" essay, but felt that I was forcing the creativeness, and not really getting across my reasons for wanting to go to Swarthmore. When I sat down to write a straightforward answer to the question, it flowed much more easily, so hopefully some authenticity came across. I figure that the admissions reps read a whole lot of essays trying to be creative and coming up short. The whole point of the essay is to convince them that you belong at this school- if a creative essay is the best way to do that, and you can fit in both creativity and good reasons in ~500 words, great. Otherwise, just answer the question.</p>
<p>I'd suggest you try to get it to fit on a single page, but also keep an eye on white space. Papers with some decent negative space looks good.</p>
<p>I believe it should be shorter than your common application essay.</p>
<p>My essay was about 350 words, back in 2004.</p>
<p>My general advice on all of the essays would be to try to have some fun with them. The best essays let the admissions officer feel like they are getting to know an inquisitive, vibrant young adult. The biggest mistake I think applicants make is trying to be too grand in scale, too "academic" in their essay writing. They already know you can write an English Lit essay. Try picking a small event or series of events and pulling the reader into those events. Your personality will shine through that way.</p>
<p>I've read several really good Why Swarthmore? essays that were completely different. There's certainly no one best way to approach it. However, the one thing they all have in common is that the student correctly identified one or more things that define Swarthmore and allowed the reader to picture the student as a living, breathing Swattie.</p>
<p>My daughter took a straightforward approach. A short three or four sentence paragraph on each of four different people she had met on campus...a couple of professors, a student, etc. ... using each one to highlight a Swarthmore quality and how she felt a part of the campus in that particular way. Of course, she also started her essay with a risky statement that it would have been an easier choice to just apply to [A Different] College.</p>
<p>I've read another that talked about the student's love of wacky ideas....like a proposal to allow any country in the world to vote to become the 51st state. The essay talked about how Swarthmore would be a place where people would not only listen to wacky ideas like that, but discuss them.</p>
<p>I read another that took the form of the classic "where are you applying" conversation with someone who had not heard of Swarthmore (in this case with the student's minister) and the internal monolog about whether to just give the short answer or give in to the urge to explain, in excited detail, all the wonderful things about the place. I liked the essay a lot. It just seemed real.</p>
<p>Talk about high-risk...I spend over half of my essay explaining why I didn't want to go to Swarthmore for a very long time. But I'm comfortable with it because everyone who has read it agrees that it redeems itself by the end. And it'll certainly get their attention!</p>
<p>Mine's at 392 words and I think it's just the right length...I loved that there were no length guidelines so I wasn't worrying about that as I was writing--I just wrote how much I wanted to write and stopped there.</p>
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Talk about high-risk...I spend over half of my essay explaining why I didn't want to go to Swarthmore for a very long time.
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<p>I don't have any problem with a "high risk" approach to an essay. Really...what's the worst that can happen? You don't get accepted. But, if you play it safe and give them a generic essay, your odds of getting accepted go down, too. So, if you think it's the right approach, might as well have some fun and go for it. </p>
<p>The only time it would probably be smart to play safe would be if your overall application were so strong relative to the other apps at the school that you are a sure-bet. There aren't many sure-bets at schools like Swarthmore.</p>
<p>"The only time it would probably be smart to play safe would be if your overall application were so strong relative to the other apps at the school that you are a sure-bet. There aren't many sure-bets at schools like Swarthmore."</p>
<p>interesteddad, it's interesting that you say that, because I think you actually called me a sure bet, or something pretty close to it. I think your theory about when to play it safe makes a lot of sense. But it's really a fine line to walk, between blandness and risk. It would be interesting to see a study on the outcomes of applications of students who write "high-risk" essays, about politics or religion, or having some crazy subject or approach. See if it's really successful, and for which bracket of applicants (safety, match, reach).</p>
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I think your theory about when to play it safe makes a lot of sense. But it's really a fine line to walk, between blandness and risk.
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<p>You have to know the school and the lay of the land. If you are a valedictorian with 1550 SATs and a stellar transcript applying in-state at UVa, it makes no sense to take any risk because you are pretty much an auto-admit.</p>
<p>I can't think of any situation where a bland essay would be safer than an interesting essay at Swarthmore. It's just a different animal from an admissions standpoint.</p>
<p>Having said that, I don't want a lurkin' specs to misinterpret what I'm saying. I'm not recommending some off-the-wall crazy rant essay. And, in general, I'd stay away from dogmatic political or religious essays, too -- unless a politcal or religious firebrand is who you are and then I guess that would be OK, too. </p>
<p>I mean, you can have some fun with an essay and still be smart about it and stay on message.</p>
<p>Would any knowledgeable person (interesteddad, perhaps?) care to look at my essay. It is unconventional and I'm not really sure about it (I like it, but am not really sure how others would take it). PM me if you would like to give me some feedback! Thanks in advance! :)</p>
<p>"Brevity is..."</p>