<p>This is the prompt on Vandy's CommonApp supplement I'm talking about:</p>
<p>Why Vanderbilt? Please use the space below to discuss the factors that have led you to consider Vanderbilt University. [4500 character limit]</p>
<p>Would an essay simply answering that question in a straightforward manner be perfectly acceptable, or do you think we should do something a bit more creative? (Not necessarily a poem in iambic paramater or anything, but perhaps something along the lines of a description of how you expect a day at Vanderbilt to be, or a specific story that got you interested in Vanderbilt, or something.)</p>
<p>do a little research, and add a little about what classs you'd love to take, or taht you like how a certain department/school is run...but, also make it a bit personal, as if they see that you truely want to attend vanderbilt, they'll be more willing to accept you, as it looks better for them to have a high yield rate</p>
<p>Yeah. I'm certainly interested in Vanderbilt, and I have several good reasons for this (none of which I could talk very much about, though), but I guess my problem is that for Vandy or any other school I'm interested in, the main reason I'm interested in them is simply ... well ... just because! I just see a certain "spark" in the schools that I'm interested in, based on little more than intuition, with little reason behind it. And, of course, it's hard to write an essay on that. I guess this applies to most people, though.</p>
<p>I have yet to visit Vanderbilt (I'll visit during Christmas break or perhaps next semester), which is a bit of a problem for this essay, but oh well.</p>
<p>As for truly personal things (if by personal things, you mean stuff that applies to me and no one else), I can't think of anything (of course, there are semi-personal things: academic interests, the kind of people I like, etc.). I'm not sure how "personal" matters even really applies to college selection, at least in my case. I imagine most Vanderbilt students select Vanderbilt for roughly the same reasons.</p>
<p>My main question still remains, though: Do you think they're looking for an essay explicitly, clearly answering the question, or would something a bit less direct and more creative (a story or something) be better?</p>