<p>I'm starting to work on supplements for various colleges, and I've noticed that most of them have "Why_______ university?" prompts. I know what I want to say about most of them, but I seriously cannot think of an interesting way to start my essay. I don't want to see cliche by saying "I believe ______ is the perfect school for me because it is intellectually stimulating and friendly."</p>
<p>Does anyone have tips for how to start a "why college" essay? And perhaps how to end it without saying "and that's why this college is great for me." Thanks!</p>
<p>What I’d recommend is, for each college, make a list of everything you love about the place. Use those to sculpt your essay, using a dummy phrase for the first and last lines (such as “I like ____ College a lot”). Then, see if a common thread runs through the essay, some main point that you really stressed, and if there is, make that the focus of your first and last lines. Bottom line: write the meat of the essay first, THEN worry about the details.</p>
<p>If you want more help, feel free to PM me. I have extensive editing and tutoring experience, and I’d be honored to help in any way I can! :)</p>
<p>My D actually used a statement about herself to start some of her essays. She had been to a particularly rigorous summer program and loved it – she started for her very rigorous colleges by putting a couple of sentences about that, and about how she was looking for a college that gave her that same rigor and intensity as the program she loved. And that THEIR college fit because… blah, blah.</p>
<p>For the slightly less rigorous schools where this didn’t make sense, she started by talking about something she had seen or done on her tour of the college, and how that had triggered her interest.</p>