The "Why This College?" essay may be a supplement, but it's really important! After you finish your main personal statement, having to write the "Why This College?" essay can trigger your impulse to exaggerate, bullshit, or regurgitate-- three common pitfalls. Don't. Instead, aim to do your best writing, thinking and match-making on the "Why This College" essay. Here's how. First, understand the "Why This College?" essay as another golden opportunity to show who you are and why you are a fit for this school. Show some enthusiasm, and build up confidence in your college list. Remember, no question on the application is really a waste of space or time; each should be treated as an opportunity to add to the picture of yourself you are creating for colleges. Each written supplement is a chance to be convincing, make your case, and land a sweet date. Here are three common pitfalls to avoid, and what to do instead for your best "Why This College" essay: "Why This College?" essay Exaggeration: If you eat a meal at my house and then tell me I am the best cook ever, I might grow shy (Who, me?), then a little worried about your judgment (Are you sure you think that?), then move on to disbelief (That's not true!), then dismissal (You don't know anything about good cooking). If you spend time (and precious word count) on superlatives and hyperbole, the admissions team may go through that same thought sequence as well, and it probably won't end in your favor. They KNOW they are not THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT EVERYTHING. But what if you instead say to me, "Wow, I have never had kale with garlic that tastes this good, and I should know, because I am a green vegetable junkie!"? Then I might believe you. You've given me a highly specific and accurate compliment. You've shown me why you are qualified to make this assessment. And you've contextualized it in a bigger picture of your tastes and preferences. We're cool! Can you think of a parallel example for Continue Reading …
honesty
Why You? Why Me! Tackling Supplemental Essays
Admit it: you, me, and possibly everyone else thinks the college application supplemental essays sometimes suck, and so you may be leaving them to tackle last, after your core essay is polished and powerful. Then (now!) you face a daunting sucky pile. But as is true for the rest of the application process, supplemental essays don't have to make you gag, stall, and then use hyperbole to compensate. It's up to you to make them work, and worth your time to do so, since many students have upward of twenty to write. Here are our tips on writing these essays successfully. First, why do they suck (and merit such a low-brow verb)? Because the supplemental essays violate an important maxim: Ask a good question, get a good answer. Unfortunately, the supplemental essay questions are often dry, and so get your dry responses. And the human urge to spout grand life plans and BS a bit. Students often get trapped responding to the "Why Our School?" essay, which can require anywhere from a painful 150 to a brutal 500 words, with one of the following unsuccessful moves: Copy-pasting text from the school's website (I think they may have read that already). Sharing your grand Life Plans (think ALL CAPS). Spewing a healthy load of BS praise ("This school has a STUPENDOUS anthropology program!!!!"). The issue with each of these approaches is: You told them what they already know. (But they are really glad you took the time to Ctrl-X, Ctrl-V). Your long-term ambitions and Big Dreams are not as relevant or important here as your immediate ambitions and actions. BS cannot sound like anything but BS. Admissions officers are hired for their BS detectors. Also, Schools are not like dogs-- they are not hoping for your praise. You are hoping for theirs. Luckily, we can call on a powerful, effective and simple recipe to get us through-- since we are stuck with these supplemental essay questions for now (Hallelujah to U Chicago, and the other schools Continue Reading …