<p>Well, the deadline for Yale app has passed, so is it okay to post my "Why Yale" here now and see what others think? It's one of the things I'm kind of insecure about on my application because I don't know if it's specific enough to Yale.</p>
<p>yeah, post it on up</p>
<p>show us!!! :)</p>
<p>Okay, here it goes…:-/</p>
<p>As an aspiring screenwriter, I want to gain an in-depth understanding of the American society for which and about which I will be writing. I also want to study the effects media has on society so I can make sociologically-informed decisions in my career. American Studies at Yale offers a broad range of fascinating courses and would also allow me to declare a concentration in “visual, audio, literary, and performance cultures”, particularly well-suited for my academic interests and goals.</p>
<p>[I wanted to say WAY more than this but this was all that fit into the character limit…Is it not specific enough? Will I get a valid chance to discuss the many more reasons I want to go to Yale in my interview or no? Thanks, guys!]</p>
<p>I don’t think it’ll hurt you at all. You definitely seem to know what you want and they’ll recognize that you took the time to do the research on how you could accomplish all that stuff at Yale.</p>
<p>Also, I think it’s extremely specific. I think you’re probably more worried about breadth than depth. But with character limits as stringent as these you inevitably have to sacrifice one for the other. Don’t worry about it :)</p>
<p>That’s a relief! 
Thanks so much, eating food! </p>
<p>Also, do you think that I will have a chance to discuss other things in my interview? Is “Why Yale” a typical question for an interviewer to ask?</p>
<p>Eiffel, for a 500 character limit, that is fine.</p>
<p>500 Char is only that long? Writing all my “Why _____” Short Answers is going to be tough next year :/</p>
<p>Your answer was very specific to your area of interest at Yale so it seems good to me.</p>
<p>Yeah, 500 characters is way too little, IMO. But a lot of schools have longer “Why” essays (Stanford, Northwestern, et cetera.) And thanks, you guys! You definitely are making me feel better. :)</p>
<p>wait wait wait wait wait…</p>
<p>are you guys talking about the “what about Yale influenced your decision to apply” essay?</p>
<p>because I didn’t do that. I assumed that it went with the international part of the application, as it was included in that section and was NOT required to submit the supplement (i.e. it didn’t have a gold mark next to it).</p>
<p>And then later, it referenced the your choice essay as the “second” essay, and made no reference to the “why yale” essay but only the common app one. </p>
<p>oh man, hahahaha, if that was required (well, it wasn’t ACTUALLY required…). I’ll just e-mail Yale explaining. funny story. my second essay was basically that though… why yale.</p>
<p>Yes, it was required. Good luck e-mailing Yale, though. It’s a small thing to penalize someone over.</p>
<p>well isn’t that annoying.</p>
<p>they really should have had a gold dot next to it, and made it so you couldn’t submit the app until it was done (like the other required stuff).</p>
<p>I had assumed it was for international applicants since it followed immediately the international schools question (and since it didn’t appear to be required).</p>
<p>I’ll call them when they reopen on the 3rd. I’m sure I’ll be okay, but I wonder how they’ll handle it, especially since my free topic essay was in part a “why yale”</p>
<p>I wrote a poem, but was unwise and did not print preview at all until a few minutes before the deadline - so when I saw that the space on the form was really horizontal, I had to frantically take out all the line breaks and add slashes instead.
I mean, that’s a fairly standard way of representing a new line in poetry… right?
Should I mail them the formatted version or do you guys think it’s fine?
(sorry to hijack the thread - Eiffel, I agree that your Why Yale is definitely mroe than adequately specific, considering the short space.)</p>
<p>I think your answer is specific and excellent. Somewhere on the internet Yale posted the “perfect” why yale answer. I know it referenced the usage of sand instead of salt on the roads in the winter and the frequency of student protests. My yale essay wasn’t specific at all. I said yale was an “intellectual tempest.” I pretty much used a cliched metaphor and a lot of descriptive language. Still, it got me accepted, so I’m not complaining. :)</p>
<p>my yale short answer probably helped me, since it was so specific: i cited certain english professors whose work i have always admired. i think yours is fine, though, Eiffel.</p>
<p>@ madelinemae:
I know what essay you’re talking about. It’s 78 words long and is found in Fiske’s Real College Essays That Worked.</p>
<p>For my Why Yale, I talked about my visit to a friend who is a freshman at Yale. I explained he told me the features of Yale, like its friendly students, knowledgeable faculty, etc.</p>
<p>Could someone post that perfect ‘Why Yale’ essay? I’m curious!</p>
<p>My essay was fairly generic. It certainly didn’t kill my app but it probably didn’t help either :)</p>