10 reasons to go to school essay

Why is School Important? (16 Best Reasons)

why school is important, explained below

A good education is the basis for a number of important life skills. It is not only a foundation for knowledge, but also the development of social skills, civic participation, and independence .

Here are 16 reasons school is important.

School facilitates learning
School provides opportunity to the poor and disadvantaged
School teaches personal responsibility
Students develop reading and writing skills
School opens up career options
Helps students develop a sense of self
School prepares students for the future
School teaches critical thinking and problem solving
School teaches collaboration
A functioning education system benefits the economy
School instils a sense of cultural and national identity
School exposes children to a diversity of views
Teaches conflict management skills
It leads to higher average incomes
It helps build social capital
It provides babysitting (Yep – read this one.)

The educational system, with all its flaws and detriments, is and forever will remain one of the most important human endeavors. The rest of this article will explain the top reasons school is crucial to learning.

Why is School Important?

1. it facilitates learning.

The fundamental purpose of education is to ensure the members of a society have a basic education. As a result, this should also be listed as the first reason school is important.

When you go to school, you’re educated by people who are trained specifically in how to maximize learning. These people – teachers – will create lessons that are at just the right education level for students, so the students are challenged but not given tasks that are too hard that they give up.

The teachers will also, ideally, create lessons that are engaging and entertaining, which helps people to learn.

Furthermore, a curriculum is used in the education system to ensure the student gets a thorough and wide-ranging education.

Combined, these structures within the education system enable and empower learners – and we can see: if you did not go to school, you surely wouldn’t know nearly as much as you do now!

2. It Provides Opportunity to All

Another important part of school is that it provides an opportunity for all people. If we didn’t have free public education, then people who couldn’t afford an education would not get the opportunity to get ahead in life.

School therefore forms an important function in enabling social mobility (which is the capacity for people to move from poor to wealthy, or working-class to middle-class and even higher).

While schools may never quite achieve perfection in regard to the ideal of “equal opportunity”, school still remains an important part of giving all students an opportunity to learn essential skills so they can succeed in life.

3. It Teaches Personal Responsibility

School helps students practice personal responsibility every time they’re given a deadline to meet, a project to complete, or an independent learning task.

When students leave school and enter the workforce, they will need to apply the responsibility they have learned during their education—completing assignments on time, managing group projects, and maintaining an ethical standard—to their occupation.

As such, schools often play a significant role in assigning students responsibilities and giving them the duty to uphold those responsibilities in a timely manner.

4. It Develops Reading and Writing Skills

Reading and writing are two of the most crucial life skills that we all use on a daily basis. It’s essential to communication in businesses and personal life. If everyone in society couldn’t read or write, communication would be much harder, and we’d all be poorer for it.

School demonstrates its importance in that it not only teaches students how to read and write at an early age, but it also continues to develop those skills throughout their entire educational journey.

Even fields outside of language studies rely on reading and understanding communications, as well as effective writing. Thus, these basic skills are instilled and reinforced in school on a daily basis.

5. It Opens Up Careers

In the long term, one of the most important feats of schooling is that it opens up career opportunities for students.

Whether it’s the fundamental skills learned in high school to an industry-specific degree at a university, there are countless ways that school prepares students for occupational careers.

Of course, the most relevant accomplishment is instilling the necessary knowledge students need to perform their jobs effectively. Many jobs require prerequisite knowledge, and school creates the ideal environment to glean that knowledge and then apply it to an occupation.

6. Helps Students Develop a Sense of Self

A lot of students will struggle in some areas of school, and that’s completely normal. Struggling through difficult subjects (and achieving success in others) helps you to learn what you’re naturally good at, and what you don’t particularly enjoy.

Without a holistic, wide and learning what subjects appeal to them of the most difficult aspects of being a student, especially in college-level courses.

Throughout this process, students will learn their niche skills and develop an understanding of how they process information, a self-recognition that is vitally important in considering what skillset they want to pursue.

7. It Prepares Students for the Future

Good schools are designed to be future-facing. They think about the challenges and opportunities of the future and make sure students are prepared for them.

We can see, for example, that many schools were very eager in the early 2000s to bring computers and the internet into classrooms in order to ensure student establish necessary digital literacy skills . This would position them well for the jobs of the 21 st Century.

Similarly, most jobs of the 21 st Century are cooperative . As a result, schools often emphasize the importance of compromise , teamwork skills , and team projects.

8. It Teaches Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills are necessary for an educated, self-governing, and functioning society.

For example, we need to be able to understand the scientific method and why science works – or else people will still be walking around believing in witchcraft.

Similarly, critical thinking is vital for evaluating the veracity of information, developing solutions to problems, and communicating with team members effectively.

Individuals who learn to think critically are generally more self-sufficient and thrive in high-demand environments where they are expected to participate in the problem-solving process .

9. It Teaches Social Skills

Schools are the key spaces in our early lives where we meet and interact with other people. Resultantly, it’s also the forum for learning social skills .

Whether it’s group projects, classroom participation, or just the sense of camaraderie that comes with having classmates, school fosters a mindset of collaboration with other people.

After all, students in the same class are learning from the same fount of knowledge. They often need to collaborate or participate in class activities to understand how to retain and apply the information.

Not only is this skill useful for retaining information more effective, but it also has merit in the workforce, where team communication is vital to the success of a business.

10. It Benefits the Economy

Education in general benefits the economy a great deal. It gives people the skills to participate productively in the workforce.

The more skilled a national workforce, the more they can get access to higher-earning jobs in the creative and service industries. A highly educated population boosts economic growth (Jorgenson & Fraumeni, 2020).

As a result, societies tend to see schools not as a sunk cost expense, but an investment. Social investment of resources into education for the next generation enables the society and its economy to flourish into the future.

11. School instils a sense of cultural and national identity

Many nations explicitly teach cultural and national identity in their schools. For example, American schools teach the pledge of allegiance. But even if it’s not explicitly taught, it is implicitly taught.

We have a word for the implicit teaching that occurs in school. It’s the ‘ hidden curriculum ’. This refers to all the subtle things we learn in school – like manners, fashion sense, and of course a sense of community identity (Alsubaie, 2015).

When we spend time with other children in the playground, we develop a sense of belonging – we are similar. We are part of the same tribe. We are one nation.

12. School exposes children to a diversity of views

If you were only homeschooled by mom and dad, you wouldn’t be exposed to alternative worldviews.

School has built-in diversity of views: from fellow school children to the diversity of views taught throughout a balanced curriculum.

Sometimes (but not always), this is exactly why people homeschool their children. Many people want to raise their children to only be exposed to a certain brand of religion or a certain political ideology.

Of course, there are many other reasons to homeschool your child – such as because you don’t like mainstream schooling teaching styles .

Nevertheless, if you were to homeschool your children, you would have to try very hard to ensure your children were exposed to a range of different types of people with different viewpoints.

13. Teaches conflict management skills

Playing in the schoolground can get rough. In fact, one possible downside of schooling is that you’ll be exposed to some cruelty from time to time from other children.

But through the adversity that children face when playing with other children in the schoolyard, they learn skills in managing conflict, engaging with people they disagree with, and developing street smarts .

Of course, we want to keep all children safe and comfortable at all times. But at the same time, realistically, children at schools will come across times when they have to deal with other kids they don’t like, and this is a learning opportunity for them that they may not get if they don’t spend so much time at school with other kids.

14. It leads to higher average incomes

Statistically speaking, incomes are higher among people with higher levels of education.

For example, the US Government found that men with bachelor’s degrees earn $900,000 per year more on average than men without bachelor’s degrees. That’s a lot of money.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t very successful people without a high education level. But it’s to say that on average you’re more likely to earn more if you’re more educated.

And this makes sense.

For example, if you have a high education level then you’ll be able to go for more competitive jobs in more specialist fields, and you’ll be a stronger candidate in job interviews.

15. It helps build social capital

If you have high social capital, you have a lot of social contacts such as friends and colleagues. If you have low social capital, you don’t know many people.

School is great for developing fundamental social capital. You meet people at school who might be able to get you in touch with someone who can give you a job. Or, they might tell you about an opportunity you didn’t know about before.

Simply: meeting people opens doors. And school is a great place to meet people.

In fact, if you go to an elite university, you have a great chance of meeting people who will be able to get you a good job after school (Martin, 2009), or who may have great contacts with the top-paying firms that hire university graduates.

16. It Provides Babysitting

Controversially, school holds a hidden value: it looks after children, which frees up parents to return to the workforce.

With more parents in the workforce, the economy can grow, and national productivity can increase.

It’s one reason why many countries now fund preschool education.

The reason this is a controversial point is that calling a teacher a babysitter is condescending and belittles the value of their job.

Of course, teachers are more than babysitters. They are professional educators – and often, highly-trained and highly-skilled at what they do.

Nevertheless, it remains true that a secondary value of education is that it frees parent up to participate in the economy as workers.

School is an institution of learning, first and foremost, serving the primary purpose of conveying information from the source to the listener.

While the model for traditional schooling has changed over the years, its importance in society has not.

Aside from providing quintessential knowledge that students need to excel in the outside world, school also instills a sense of responsibility and capability in its students.

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Thanks for the facts about why students must go to school.

Why This College Essay Sample

Why this college essay sample – introduction.

Not sure how to start a “why this college” essay? Looking for a why this college essay sample? You’re in luck. We’ve compiled a collection of standout why school essay examples from a variety of schools to help you prepare to write your own why this college essay.

Throughout the admissions process, you’ll likely write “why this college” essays for many schools on your list. These prompts ask you to cite specific reasons why you’d like to attend a given school. As you start writing these essays, it can be tough to know where to start.

In this guide, we’ve included a variety of “why school” essay examples. Our why school essay examples come from many different schools—ten, to be exact. We hope these essay examples can help you prepare to write your own why this college essay.

We’ll review a “why this college” essay sample from each of the following schools and explain what made it effective.

We’ll look at why school essay examples from:

University of Chicago
Georgia Institute of Technology
Wake Forest University
Tufts University
Lewis & Clark College
Loyola Marymount University
Duke University
Franklin & Marshall College
University of Florida
Lafayette College

What are examples of Why School essay prompts?

Before we take a look at our why this college essay examples, let’s start with the prompts. You’ll notice that our why this college essay examples have a lot in common. Namely, each why this college essay sample discusses specific details why a student belongs at a given school.

Still, you should note that each why this college essay sample is different. Each essay responds to their own why this college essay sample prompt. While these prompts have a lot in common, you’ll notice some key differences.

Essay prompts change

As you read our why college essay examples, you may notice that the prompts are slightly different from those below. That is because some schools change their prompts in different years.

At times, colleges will also eliminate prompts entirely. Certain schools, like Franklin & Marshall and Lewis & Clark , no longer require a why this college essay. However, we have still included why college essay examples for these schools. By reading these why this college essay samples, you can learn more about how to approach this type of prompt.

Now, let’s look at some prompts in the table of why this college essay examples below.

As you can see from our why school essay examples prompts, not every prompt is as open-ended as “why this school.” So, compare each school’s why this college essay examples and prompt. Then, you’ll notice certain similarities and differences. You can apply this knowledge as you draft your own essays.

By reading through our “why college” essay examples, you’ll also familiarize yourself with the different prompts you might encounter. You can approach any prompt that references a school itself, either generally or specifically ( academics , curriculum, culture, etc.). You can see this in our why college essay examples prompts.

Different schools, different prompts

Some of the prompts are quite straightforward. They simply ask the question you’ll see answered in our why college essay examples: “Why this school?”

Other prompts, however, are a bit more leading. These might ask students about their chosen majors and how they align with a school’s values. They may also ask why a specific school will help them achieve their goals.

In all of our “why college” essay examples, you’ll notice that the prompts discuss each school by name. You’ll find questions like “why are you applying” and “how did you learn about us?” in these prompts. However, each of these boil down to the same essential question: why are you a good fit for our school?

Next, we’ll look at how our why college essay examples answer this question. But first, let’s take a look at a handful of schools and their essay prompts. This will help you understand how your why this college essay sample fits into your application strategy.

Which schools require a Why This College essay?

As you’ll see from our why school essay examples, many schools require a why this college essay sample. Our why this college essay examples include many schools, but this list isn’t exhaustive. So, do your own research to see if each school on your list requires a why this college essay.

The good news is many of our why school essay examples prompts are very similar. So, wherever you apply , our why college essay examples are great resources to reference as you write your own why school essay.

To get you started, here are some of the schools that require a why this college essay. You’ll find some why this college essay examples for these schools below. Others, you can check out in our school-specific essay guides :

Top Universities with a Why School Essay

Northwestern
American Unviersity

Why college essay examples for some of these schools didn’t make it into our list of college essays that worked. However, we still wanted to mention a few more schools that require a why this college essay.

More Why School Essay Examples Guides to Explore

Why northwestern.

Northwestern University has a two-part “why this college” essay sample prompt. They want to know what resources, opportunities, and/or communities you plan to engage with on campus. They also want to know how these offerings may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.

Why Barnard

The why this college essay sample prompt for Barnard College is a little more open-ended. Similar to other schools, Barnard asks what factors led you to apply at Barnard. They also ask you to share why you think Barnard will be a good match for you.

Yale University’s why this college essay sample prompt is similar to Barnard’s: “What is it about Yale that has led you to apply?” This is your opportunity to get specific about why Yale excites you. It also lets you share what you hope to take advantage of on campus.

Why Dartmouth

Dartmouth College’s why this college essay sample prompt asks students “Why Dartmouth?”—a classic why school prompt. Similar to Northwestern’s prompt, Dartmouth’s specifically asks what aspects of their academic program, community, or campus environment attract you.

Brown University asks students to describe their academic interests and how they might use Brown’s Open Curriculum to pursue them. In this instance, since the curriculum is specific to Brown, you can think of this prompt in two parts. First, what do you want to study, and second, why do you want to study it at Brown? In this way, this essay is a why this college essay, so should also be our list.

Why This College Essay Examples

You can use our why school essay examples to help you begin to write your why school essays. Each of our college essays that worked was chosen because it is a strong and compelling “why this college” essay sample.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to read a why this college essay sample, you’re in luck. Take some time to read some below from over ten schools. These include our UF supplemental essay examples, Tufts essays that worked, Georgia Tech essay examples, why Duke essay examples, and more.

Why this college essay sample #1- UChicago

The University of Chicago is well-known for its quirky supplemental essay requirements. Among those you can expect to find some kind of Why This College essay. Below is an example of how one student crafted their response.

Why UChicago Essay Examples

How does the university of chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to uchicago. (1-2 pages).

The best thing about the University of Chicago is its subtle inconspicuousness. The ivy leagues and big select schools all have a stereotype/reputation it holds in the public eye that is difficult to live up to. Go to Harvard? Oh, you must be the smartest person ever! Go to UC Berkeley, MIT? You must be the greatest genius the world has ever seen. But when U Chicago is mentioned, most people find it difficult to generalize the institution as anything outside of “top university” or “prestigious school.” This is because while universities at the forefront of media attention are some of the best in the United States, such overexposure lends itself to negative connotations that cannot be escaped.

I myself knew little about U Chicago, but soon came to realize how great knowing little could actually be in the grand scheme of things.

Everything starts with the amazing education system U Chicago prides itself on. Core Curriculum allows for students to really engage in critical thinking with an expanded view of the world and how it works. Students at U Chicago are not there for the perceived prestige or bonus points you get from attending a top university, they’re there to learn, and not just learn for the final exam and forget. They are there to learn and continue to use their gained knowledge as they expound upon it throughout their journey through schooling and life.

In high school and in my time taking community college courses, I haven’t been exposed to these types of students. People take courses just to put a check mark on the list, and I have been doing the same because it’s what required and it’s all I’ve ever known. There was never an opportunity to take specialized courses and as a result, my classmates’ zeal for knowledge acquisition has never been awakened. Though I try to satisfy my curiosities through articles and books, there was never anyone to discuss it with in depth without one of us leaving frustrated.

Though I plan to major in a Neuroscience-related program as a pre-medical student, I want to be able to learn new languages, Norwegian mythology, the situation of public health; anything that has piqued my interests for multiple years but remained untouched due to circumstances. I like that U Chicago forbids students from taking courses solely for their major and requires them to spend a large portion of their time in the Core Curriculum in order to make this happen.

Instead of dealing with constant pressure from society, students at U Chicago are free to pursue their passions without fear of judgment or stereotype. With the focus on education where it belongs, the overall atmosphere at the institution is laid-back and does not add stress to the rigorous course load.

A secret utopia of sorts, U Chicago sets an invincible foundation that will exponentially increase the vitality of a person in any field of work or practice and I want to be a part of that.

Explaining why this essay worked

This is one of our Why UChicago essay examples and one of our first college essays that worked. In it, the author reflects on UChicago’s academic values and culture. This “why this college” essay sample highlights the type of student that thrives at UChicago. It also shows how this student’s values align with UChicago’s.

As you’ll see in our other why school essay examples, this writer mentions specific qualities about UChicago’s Core Curriculum. They foreground how it will allow them to pursue all of their academic interests. In doing so, this student makes a strong case for why they belong at UChicago.

If you want to read another why this college essay sample, check out our guide . There, you’ll find more UChicago why school essay examples.

Why this college essay sample #2 – Georgia Tech

The second why this college essay sample we are sharing is Why School essay from Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech only requires one supplemental essay and it is a Why This College essay. Let’s look at how one student responded to the prompt below.

Georgia Tech Essay Examples

Why do you want to study your chosen major at georgia tech, and what opportunities at georgia tech will prepare you in that field after graduation (300 words).

March 29, 2019. 11 AM EST. GT Shadow Day. I remember it all so clearly: Descending the red-brick steps of the Old Civil Engineering Building. My friend and I, chatting up a storm, our minds blown by our newfound perspectives.

We had just walked out of ECON-4060: Money & Capital Markets. To say that it changed my life would be no exaggeration; within an hour, The professor had upended my perception of society and defined my future aspirations.

We had been asked to consider a popular commodity, diamonds. Hardly rare, fast-decaying, and intrinsically worthless. So why do we buy them? The professor had then illuminated the factors in our economic behavior that cause us to gift a ring in marriage rather than something with real value, say a treasury bond. These realizations were enough to rock me back on my heels, for I had never before noticed the large degree to which our everyday economic decision-making is irrational.

Craving more than that one splendid hour, I knew where and what I wanted to study for the next four years. I saw myself strolling through Bobby Dodd Way, bumping into old friends as I made my way to Midtown Atlanta. I saw myself exploring the realm of economics, probing questions ranging from price formation to income disparity. I saw myself at a place that felt familiar enough to call “home,” learning in a way that felt genuine enough to call “discovery.”

Educating myself on the mechanics of economics is just a glimpse of my great desires. Through the senior research project, I seek the one-on-one guidance of faculty in yielding a publishable journal paper. Someday, with the support of the program’s alumni network, I plan to pursue career and internship opportunities in the great company headquarters of Atlanta.

Why did this Georgia Tech essay work?

This is one of our favorite Georgia Tech essay examples because the writer drops us into a story that defines their interest in attending Georgia Tech. This “why this college” essay sample has a delightful and passionate tone. It communicates the writer’s interest in economics, passion for learning, and desire to explore these ideas at Georgia Tech.

Once again specificity is key (something you’ll continue to see in our other why school essay examples). This writer mentions Bobby Dodd Way, which is a street on campus. They also discuss opportunities for a senior research project and the specific professor and class that inspired them.

Why this college essay sample #3 – Wake Forest

Our next college essay that worked is from Wake Forest University.

Why Wake Forest Essay Examples

How did you become interested in wake forest university and why are you applying (150 words) .

Each time I return to campus, I see a true fit between myself and Wake Forest. I will dedicate myself to furthering the university motto, pro humanitate, by actively working with the Volunteer Service Corps and continuing my community service of providing for the basic needs of others. In addition, I will engage in the world around me and pursue a minor in Spanish while studying abroad in Salamanca, Spain; since I am currently taking AP Spanish, the language and cultural immersion would advance my fluency and expand my exposure to other cultures. In the diverse and intellectual community of Wake Forest, I will continue to pursue my goals with natural curiosity while growing as a leader in the service of others. Wake Forest is the window into the endless possibilities of my future.

Why this Wake Forest essay worked

This why this college essay sample shows how to successfully and succinctly write a why this college essay. Just like in our longer why school essay examples, this writer combines values, academics, and specificity. In doing so, they show how Wake Forest will impact their continued growth and future goals.

College essays that worked #4 – Tufts

Why tufts essay examples, “why tufts” (150 words).

I fell in love with Tufts immediately upon entering the Granoff Music Center. Standing in the lofty, sunlit atrium, I imagined being there with my enormous ekantha-veena gathered in my arms. Catching sight of the World Music Room, the glistening Indonesian gamelan housed inside—I knew that both my instrument and I would feel right at home at Tufts.

After all, Tufts is the type of school that embraces women who play instruments twice their size and, moreover, actually listens to their music.

Tufts provides women like me ample space in the music center, as well as on ground-breaking research teams such as the Sandler International Research Program; or access to intimate classroom settings with faculty such as one key professor whose dissertations are lauded by the American Sociological Association.

Tufts is a place where both the young woman and her ekantha-veena, her music and her ideas, will be heard.

This why this college essay sample prompt from Tufts admissions is extremely simple. In fact, this essay is one of our Tufts essays that worked because of its simplicity. We imagine Tufts admissions gravitated towards this essay because it reveals the writer’s passion for music. It also highlights the type of research and culture they’d like to engage with at Tufts.

Check out Tufts admissions page for more why Tufts essay examples and advice on Tufts essays that worked.

Why this college essay sample #5- Lewis and Clark

Lewis & clark supplemental essay example, lewis & clark college is a private college with a public conscience and a global reach. we celebrate our strengths in collaborative scholarship, international engagement, environmental understanding and entrepreneurial thinking. as we evaluate applications, we look for students who understand what we offer and are eager to contribute to our community. in one paragraph, please tell us why you are interested in attending lewis & clark and how you will impact our campus..

For the last eighteen years, my dad has repeated the phrase “curiosity killed the cat” at least once a week, attempting to satisfy my unrelenting curiosity. In response, I’ve adopted the mantra “but knowledge brought him back.” At Lewis and Clark College, I seek to fulfill my intense interest about the workings of society by conducting sociology research on issues in urban areas under one professor at Lewis and Clark. This research will also support my plans to perform an independent study on the aspects of criminal justice in urban environments, as the unique tensions in cities often affect the role of criminal justice.

I’ve read countless books on America’s legal system and wish to use sociology to analyze the factors that influence how justice is carried out. My unwavering curiosity also extends to my adoration of architecture, so the chance to explore my fascination with urban design through a self-designed major at Lewis and Clark deeply excites me. I know that creating my own course of study will enable me to explore my curiosity about urban history and planning. Furthermore, the chance to double major will allow me to combine architecture and social perspective and explore the connections between my majors.

The freedom to study both sociology and urban architecture at Lewis and Clark will give me a distinctive perspective on the artistic and social issues that are present in Portland and other major cities. Another opportunity that excites me is the chance to study abroad in Seville, Spain.

I am particularly enthusiastic about the ability to use my sociology and architecture education to explore a unique geographical area. Classes such as Art History of Spain will supplement my concentration on urban architecture, while Contemporary Issues of Spain will allow me to study the sociological aspects of a different culture. I also plan to study Spanish in college, so living with a host family gives me the unique ability to practice Spanish around the clock.

I believe that studying abroad in Seville, Spain through Lewis and Clark will enable me to engage in many unforgettable learning experiences. Finally, Lewis and Clark is bursting with non-traditional learning opportunities outside of the classroom. I can’t wait to learn a new skill by joining the sailing team and debating moral theories with the philosophy club.

I believe that there is no better place for me to study sociology and architecture because Lewis and Clark’s emphasis on diversity and international study are values that align perfectly with my interests.

Exploring the strengths of this essay

The Lewis and Clark College acceptance rate is higher than that of some other top schools. Still, you can tell how much thought and care this writer put into their “why this college” essay sample. Since the Lewis and Clark College acceptance rate is 79% , you might think crafting a strong supplemental essay would be easy. However, you can tell the writer of this “why this college” essay sample took their time time. In their essay, they weave a clear and compelling story about their interests and how Lewis & Clark will allow them to pursue those interests.

No matter a school’s acceptance rate, whether it is lower or higher than the Lewis and Clark College acceptance rate, make sure you take the time with every essay you write to make it the best it can be.

Why this college essay sample #6 – Loyola Marymount

Loyola marymount essay example, please briefly state your reason for wishing to attend lmu and/or how you came to select your major. (500 words).

Whether I’m bustling through people in the Metro station, taking a leisurely stroll on the beach, or studying at my local cafe, I embrace the sights, sounds, and people of Los Angeles. Though I was born in New York, I am a true L.A. native: the sunset is my muse, and my dreams are ambitious (I want to cure cancer, win a Pulitzer-Prize, and walk the red carpet, simultaneously).

Even if I don’t accomplish all of these things, I am encouraged by the fact that they are all possibilities at LMU. With a unique fusion of academic excellence, strong communal identity, and a faith-based education, LMU would prepare me to be an innovative and compassionate leader in the real world.

Reflective of L.A.’s rich cultural diversity, LMU offers students a wide array of resources. For one thing, the student to teacher ratio is 10:1, which enhances learning by fostering personal relationships with professors and peers. Furthermore, it creates a collaborative group environment, something I consider integral to my education. Secondly, as someone who is passionate about both Chicano/Latino studies and Biology, I was excited to discover that with LMU’s major and minor policy, I would be able to study both, even if they are located in different colleges.

Ultimately, I want to become a doctor, possibly a neurologist, hence my desire to major in biology. With a broad course list–encompassing everything from Immunology to Animal Behavior– and intensive, faculty-mentored research, LMU’s biology program will enable me to pursue my passion for science. At the same time, I wish to apply my medical studies to serving a greater purpose.

This is why I’ve chosen to minor in Chicano Studies. I have always taken great pride in my ethnicity, so being able to examine the Latino identity through political, historical, and cultural lenses would enrich how I understand myself and the entire Latino/a community.

The final and most important reason why I want to attend LMU is its emphasis on serving the community and the world at large. Being a practicing Catholic myself, it is important to me that faith be integrated in my education, not only because it is a part of my own identity, but because it nurtures both spiritual and personal growth. At my current high school, I have encountered and conversed with students of different faiths, or even no faith, who fully embrace the spirit of community service that characterizes Christianity.

This is what I admire most about LMU; regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or religion, LMU embraces everyone and teaches students to do the same. In short, LMU would not only augment my love of service, it would propel me forward in my mission: to be a woman of great heart and right conscience for others.

With a higher word count, this is one of our longer why school essay examples. This writer likely captured the attention of Loyola Marymount admissions with their eloquence and ambition.

While there’s no one right way to impress Loyola Marymount admissions, showcasing the school’s unique programs will help show them why attending Loyola is vital to your future. This why this college essay sample touches on LMU’s faith-based curriculum, and biology and chicano studies programs, and why they are important to this writer.

Why this college essay sample #7 – Duke

Duke University is another school that asks students Why This College as part of their supplemental essay requirements. Take a look at the essay that worked below for some ideas about how to write your Why Duke essay.

Why Duke Essay Examples

What is your sense of duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you if there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (250 words).

At Duke University, I would get the opportunity to immerse myself in interests that I harbored but never had the opportunity to explore due to circumstances. With incredible resources from world-renowned professors, I would learn directly from the best in any subject, and be able to use this advantage to further myself in my future career plans and goals.

The quality of my education, though attributed to the institution, would be the most highly enriched from the students. Although from diverse backgrounds, all the students share the same thirst for knowledge and a drive to make a difference. With the focus on education where it belongs, the overall atmosphere at the institution is collaborative and does not add stress to the rigorous course load.

A secret utopia of sorts, Duke sets an invincible foundation that will exponentially increase the vitality of a person in any field of work or practice.

Why this essay worked

This is one of our favorite why Duke essay examples because it highlights the people this writer plans to learn from at Duke: their professors and their fellow students. Surprisingly, this is probably one of the least specific why school essay examples. However, this writer still successfully manages to capture their passion for learning and how excited they are to pursue these goals on Duke’s campus.

Want more why Duke essay examples and tips on how to approach this “why this college” essay sample prompt? Check out our Duke University Essay Guide .

Why this college essay sample #8 – University of Florida

Uf supplemental essay examples, the university of florida honors program is a “community of scholars” bound together by a shared interest in maximizing the undergraduate experience. why are you drawn to this type of community at uf, and how do you plan to contribute to it in and out of the classroom.

Anyone who’s ever played a high school sport can attest to the fact that every coach has his or her own catchphrase. For some coaches, it might be “always give 110%”. Others say, “You miss every shot you don’t take.”

My 10th grade basketball coach? His catchphrase was more like a repeated lecture. It would start off as “This team is made up of different personalities.” Pause. “80% of you are pulled either up or down by your teammates. 10% of you have negative energy and bring everyone down.” Pause and sigh. “And then there’s the last 10%. You guys are the ones who carry this team with positive energy. So what percent do you want to be tonight?”

His rhetorical questions seemed like another pep talk to the rest of my team but would always strike a chord within me. From that basketball season and on, I strived to be the 10% pulling everyone positively.

My reformed attitude taught me many things. I learned how productive and influential a positive force on a team can be. I learned something about myself too: wherever I went to college, I wanted to be in a team-like environment. A close-knit group of scholars full of diverse perspectives, but all striving towards the same common goal: gaining knowledge.

This is what I see in the UF Honors Program. The opportunity to be surrounded by like minded people. People who are all part of that 10% who pull you up. People who are genuinely interested in learning, research, and discussion. To be able to walk into a room with overlapping conversations about an intellectual topic like the current economic status of Dubai or the psychosocial issues in the United States is something I crave in my college experience.

Not only do I envision myself in a place like this, but I also see a platform which will give me great opportunities, beginning with peers who share the same academic drive as me and smaller class sizes, which result in profound discussions. I hope to be given an opportunity to walk onto this platform and show everyone just how high I can raise it.

Why this UF Honors Program essay worked

It’s important to note that a why this college essay sample is not necessarily a required portion of your UF application. You only need to submit a why this college essay with your UF application if you apply to the UF Honors Program.

However, we still included this “why this college” essay sample as part of our why school essay examples because this writer beautifully described the kind of student and community member they hope to be at UF. They highlight a personal story—a moment where they grew and learned a valuable lesson. Then, they combine it with what they hope to find in UF’s honors community.

Why this college essay sample #9 – Franklin & Marshall

Franklin & marshall essays.

A Franklin and Marshall education is in line with my commitment to stimulate and chronicle a more just world through health, justice, and activism for marginalized people locally and internationally in a way that giving a check never could.

I would be able to synthesize my fascination with medicine and people by seeking out experiences in biomedical research and patient care through the Quick Response Service organization as an EMT responder for the Lancaster community. Most importantly, I can investigate a breadth of topics to a much fuller extent than I can at any other institution.

With a Franklin and Marshall acceptance rate of 38% , this is considered a more selective school. However, the Franklin and Marshall acceptance rate should not affect your why this college essay. Also, as you craft your Franklin and Marshall application, note that the university no longer requires a Why School essay. Still, this essay provides a useful blueprint for other why school essay samples.

Rather than focusing on the Franklin and Marshall acceptance rate, you’ll want to review the supplemental essay requirements . Then, use the prompt to articulate the benefits of receiving an education from Franklin and Marshall. In order to gain acceptance to Franklin and Marshall, you should focus on what attending this particular college means to you.

Why this college essay sample #10- Lafayette College

Our final why this college essay sample, is from Lafayette College. A Why School essay is the cornerstone of Lafayette College’s supplemental essay requirements. Let’s take a look at an example from a student accepted to Lafayette.

Why Lafayette College Essay Examples

Students identify lafayette as an excellent fit for countless reasons. in your response, be deliberate and specific about your motivation for applying to lafayette. why do you see yourself at lafayette (200 words).

“If you were to be accepted to every college in the country, which one would you choose above all others?” An admissions officer prompted the room with this question early in my college search. Back then, I didn’t know the answer, but now it’s a obvious choice: Lafayette.

When I visited Lafayette, I’d already seen 15 colleges. However, when I toured campus, I instantly felt a difference in the school and the students themselves. Everyone looked truly happy to be there, especially considering the people I saw were remaining at school during break while their peers returned home.

When I looked around, I saw people I could imagine myself befriending and spending time with, something I struggled to find at other institutions. I later connected with my tour guide, who also happened to be a Civil Engineering major. I’m interested in pursuing an architecture minor, and she told me about a project in her Architectural Engineering class in which students design bus stops with features like charging stations or mini libraries. I appreciated that she took time to email me, and her genuine enthusiasm about her classes was infectious. With that email, I cemented my decision to apply.

There’s a difference between being busy and being engaged. Lafayette comes alive each day with the energy of students who are deeply engaged in their academic, co-curricular and extracurricular explorations.

Of all of our why school essay examples, this why this college essay sample discusses an actual experience the student had on campus. In truth, this is a great strategy. Using this topic, admissions gets to hear about how they connected with a student. They also learn how this student already sees themself as part of the student community.

Like many of our other why school essay examples, this writer follows a strong structure. They started with a personal story, sprinkled in specific and valuable details, and ended with a big-picture summary of “Why this school.”

How To Write A Why This College Essay

We’ve read some outstanding why school essay examples, including Why Duke essay examples, Tufts essays that worked, and more. Next, let’s talk about how to write your own why this college essay.

At times, you’ll find a “why this college” essay sample or two with a longer word count. However, most of our why school essay examples prompts have a smaller word limit. So, you generally need to be succinct when writing a why this college essay. For some students, this may mean writing your initial draft without worrying about the word count, then editing your draft down to the most important parts.

Do your research

Before you get into writing your why this college essay sample, we recommend getting to know more about the school you are applying to. One of the most important things you can do to prepare to write your why this college essay sample is to spend time researching specific aspects of the school that align with your candidate profile.

For example, let’s say you’re a student who wants to study engineering , you want a big school, and you’re also passionate about doing your own research. As you begin your college search , you’d want to look for schools that meet all of your needs. Once you have a list of potential schools , do some research into each school and their requirements. Watch webinars , read guides about meeting application requirements, like what is a good SAT score and test-optional colleges , and guides about approaching your college application essays .

How to Start a Why This College Essay

Next, let’s go over how to start a “why this college” essay. The beginning of your essay is always the most important because it can draw your reader in and make them want to read more. We have tons of guides to help you through every step of the writing process. So, after reading through our why school essay examples, take a look at exercises to help determine a college essay topic and what admissions officers think of 3 common college essay topics.

Once you have a topic for your why this college essay sample, take a look at our 39 essay tips . These helpful tips are from our admissions experts. We also have a resource with tips on how to craft your college essay . Then, when you’re ready to start editing your essay, check out our advice on making your essays shine .

Use these examples to help brainstorm

We’ve reviewed a variety of why this college essay examples. By reading these examples, we hope you got some insight into how to write a why this college essay. These why school essay examples are college essays that worked. That is, they used specific details to show why an applicant was a perfect fit for a given school. Each why this college essay sample is slightly different—and every student is, too. So, use our why school essay examples as a jumping-off point.

We can’t include a why this college essay sample from every school in our college essays that worked roundup. But, keep reading to the end of the guide for more CollegeAdvisor.com resources full of why school essay examples. These resources include: why Northwestern essay examples and why Yale essay examples. They also include why NYU essay examples and a why Barnard essay example.

Other CollegeAdvisor Resources on Why This College Essays

If you’re looking for a why this college essay sample for a school we haven’t touched on, you’re in luck! We have “why school” essay examples for a ton of top schools that are sure to be on your college list. These why this college essay examples will be just as helpful as the ones we’ve already covered, like our Tufts essays that worked, Georgia Tech essay examples, and why Duke essay examples.

First, we have our why Northwestern essay examples. This guide offers two why Northwestern essay examples and a breakdown of what made each essay so impactful.

Why Northwestern Essay Examples

Then, check out our why Barnard essay example page. In addition to a why Barnard essay example, you can get some application tips. The article also covers information about Barnard’s acceptance rate and essay requirements.

Barnard Essay Examples

Next, stop by our Why Yale essay examples guide. The why Yale essay examples cover all three Yale supplemental essay requirements. These include the essays about your potential majors and a topic or idea that excites you.

Why Yale Essay Examples

Finally , read some Why NYU essay examples (and why they worked). Each of our why NYU essay examples is accompanied by feedback from an ex-admissions officer on why the essay worked.

NYU Essay Examples (And Why They Worked)

Why This College Essay Sample – Final Thoughts

After reading our why school essay examples, we hope you have a better sense of what a “why this college” essay sample should include. We also hope it can help you go about writing your own. While there is no perfect formula for writing your supplemental essays , don’t forget to take advantage of all of the resources available to you.

If you’re nervous to begin writing your why this college essay sample, don’t worry! Each of our “why school” essay examples was written by a student just like you that managed to gain a college acceptance letter from their dream school. All it takes is time, patience, and dedication to making your college essays the best they can be. To find more examples of college essays that worked, check out our personal statement examples .

This essay guide was written by Stefanie Tedards. Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. I n fact, d uring your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.

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How to Write a Stellar “Why This College?” Essay + Examples

What’s covered:, sample “why this college” prompts, faqs about the “why this college” essay.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Good “Why This College?” Essay Examples

Brainstorming for this Essay
Outlining Your Essay
Where to Get Your Essay Edited

One of the most common college essay supplements will ask you to answer the question: “Why This College?” These essays are looking to see whether you’re a good fit for the campus community, and whether the college is a good fit for you and your goals.

In this post, we’ll show you a couple examples of these prompts, go over good and bad sample responses, and break down how to ensure yours is one of the good ones.

Let’s start by taking a look at real prompts that fit under the “Why This College?” archetype:

Tufts: Which aspects of the Tufts undergraduate experience prompt your application? In short, ‘Why Tufts?’ (150 words)

Northwestern: Other parts of your application give us a sense for how you might contribute to Northwestern. But we also want to consider how Northwestern will contribute to your interests and goals. Help us understand what aspects of Northwestern appeal most to you, and how you’ll make use of specific resources and opportunities here. (300 words)

As you can see, these prompts are basically asking why you want to attend the school in question. Northwestern spells it out even further, and specifically asks how you’ll use their resources to achieve your goals.

Both prompts have word counts that are much shorter than that of the Common App, which is typical of supplemental essays. These two word counts are pretty representative, and you can expect the “Why This College?” essay length to be 100-400 words on average. That’s not a lot of space for a pretty important question, so it’s especially vital to use the word count wisely.

What are colleges looking for in the “Why Us” essay?

Colleges want to admit students who will not only enroll (to protect their yield), but also thrive on their campus. They ask this question to see whether you’re truly interested in the school and whether it’s the right place for you. You can write a strong response by citing specific ways the college can support your goals, as well as demonstrating your enthusiasm.

Which colleges have a “Why This College?” essay?

This is one of the most popular supplements among colleges. Here is a selection of top schools that ask this question:

Northwestern
Boston University
University of Michigan

Check out our essay guides for these schools for more in-depth advice on how to write these essays.

What kind of writing style should I use?

This is a straightforward question that generally has a short word count, so you don’t need to use a narrative form at all. You can simply explain what you like about the school and why, but try to use varied sentence structure and organize the essay around your major goals.

You can start your essay with a story if you want, however. For example, if you visited campus and experienced a really interesting course, or sat in on a meeting of a club you liked, this can make for a strong anecdote to begin your essay. Just make sure that whatever story you tell has some substance, and isn’t just a narration of how nice it was to walk around campus.

Can I copy and paste my essay for other schools?

Absolutely not. If your essay is general enough to apply to other schools, you know you need to rewrite it. The resources you mention should be highly specific to the college you’re writing about.

Common Mistakes When Writing the “Why This College?” Essay

The most common mistake students make is listing generic characteristics that could apply to any school. This negatively impacts your application, since it sends the message that you didn’t do your research, and aren’t truly interested in the school.

Here’s an example of something NOT to list in your “Why this college essay.” We’ll take the example of Tufts since we shared the prompt in the beginning.

What NOT to write: I’m applying to Tufts because of its low student to faculty ratio, the strong math department, and its prime location in Medford, just a hop away from Boston. When I visited campus, the school already felt like home.

This example is bad because many schools have low student to faculty ratios and strong math departments. There are also a ton of schools in or near Boston, many of which have low student to faculty ratios and great math departments too, such as Boston College, Harvard, Northeastern, Boston University, etc. If your statements can apply to other schools, that’s definitely not a good sign (avoid things like location, weather, size, and ranking).

The student also uses an emotional appeal with the line “it felt like home,” which might sound nice, but it has no substance and can be written for any school. You should definitely avoid making any statements like these.

This example shows that the student really hasn’t thought much about their fit with Tufts, and that it probably isn’t their top choice. This will impact your application negatively, especially since Tufts is known for taking applicants’ demonstrated interest more seriously than other schools . So, if you show that you show little interest through your essay, you may end up waitlisted or rejected, even if your stats are excellent.

Another thing that this example gets wrong is that it doesn’t describe the student’s goals or interests at all. It’s important to not only talk about why you picked the school, but also how exactly those aspects will help you grow. Remember, this kind of prompt is two-fold: in addition to explaining why the school is a good fit for you, you want to show why you, out of the many thousands of applicants they get each year, are a good fit for them.

To summarize, the main mistakes to avoid are:

Citing generic aspects of the school (location, weather, size, and ranking)
Using empty emotional appeals
Not describing your goals and interests

Now that we know what a bad example might look like, here’s an example of a rewrite to part of the Tufts essay:

What TO write: As a potential Applied Mathematics major, I hope to gain the tools to model political behavior. I’m especially interested in elections, and am looking forward to taking the course “Mathematics of Social Choice,” as the centerpiece of Social Choice Theory is voting. I would also love to take “Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos,” because it will teach me to use differential equations to predict chaotic behavior.

This is a good example, as the courses listed are highly-specific to Tufts, as well as the student’s professional goals. We not only learned something about Tufts, but also the student. Keep in mind that this wouldn’t be a complete essay⁠—it’s just an example of good, specific resources to list, and how to connect them to your own interests.

If you want an example of a complete essay, here’s this real student response for Boston University’s “Why This College?” prompt.

Prompt: In no more than 250 words, please tell us why BU is a good fit for you and what

specifically has led you to apply for admission.

Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) attracts me because of its support of interdisciplinary study among its wide array of majors. In fact, the CAS now offers a course that combines biology, chemistry, and neuroscience. As I hope to conduct medical research into brain disorders, I plan to pursue all three areas of study. These cross-disciplinary connections at BU will prepare me to do so.

CAS’s undergraduate research program would allow me to work with a mentor, such as Dr. Alice Cronin-Golomb or Dr. Robert M.G. Reinhart related to their research on neurological disorders. With them, I can advance the work I have already completed related to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). In a summer class at our local university, my partner and I extracted data from fMRI and PET studies and inputted them into a coding program. We then created an indicator map, which we imported into another software program, AFNI, to display significant activity in the brain regions affected by DID. Seeing the representation of our data thrilled me because I knew it could eventually help people who live with DID. I want to experience that feeling again. Successfully analyzing these fMRI and PET studies and learning to code drives me to pursue more research opportunities, and this desire motivates me to study at a university that offers research opportunities to undergraduates. BU’s interdisciplinary approach to psychology and support for independent undergraduate undergraduate research will optimally prepare me for a career as a neurological researcher.

This student clearly outlines BU-specific resources (the interdisciplinary course and undergrad research program), plus how these resources align with their professional goals (to become a neurological researcher). They do “name-drop” professors, but since their work clearly relates to the student’s interests, it doesn’t look disingenuous, and shows that the student has done research on their fit with BU. The student also provides background on why they want to pursue research, and shows that they already have experience, which makes their interest in the undergrad research program more concrete.

The only thing missing from this essay is the student’s fit with BU in terms of extracurriculars and social life. “Why This College?” essays should also cover extracurriculars, as the residential college experience is about more than just class and homework. Admissions officers are also interested in how you’ll contribute to their broader campus community.

In general, these essays should be academic-leaning (especially if they’re under 250 words), but you should still address some social aspects of the college that appeal to you (we recommend about 70% academics, 30% social, with more or less focus on social aspects depending on the word count). Since the student probably already detailed their previous research in their Common App activities section, they could’ve just summarized their research background in one sentence, and used the space saved to talk about a specific social aspect of BU that interests them.

Here’s another sample essay, but for UPenn. This essay’s word count was much longer, so the student was able to really hone in on several specific aspects of UPenn.

Prompt: How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying (650 words).

Sister Simone Roach, a theorist of nursing ethics, said, “caring is the human mode of being.” I have long been inspired by Sister Roach’s Five C’s of Caring: commitment, conscience, competence, compassion, and confidence. Penn both embraces and fosters these values through a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum and unmatched access to service and volunteer opportunities.

COMMITMENT. Reading through the activities that Penn Quakers devote their time to (in addition to academics!) felt like drinking from a firehose in the best possible way. As a prospective nursing student with interests outside of my major, I value this level of flexibility. I plan to leverage Penn’s liberal arts curriculum to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges LGBT people face, especially regarding healthcare access. Through courses like “Interactional Processes with LGBT Individuals” and volunteering at the Mazzoni Center for outreach, I hope to learn how to better support the Penn LGBT community as well as my family and friends, including my cousin, who came out as trans last year.

CONSCIENCE. As one of the first people in my family to attend a four-year university, I wanted a school that promoted a sense of moral responsibility among its students. At Penn, professors challenge their students to question and recreate their own set of morals by sparking thought- provoking, open-minded discussions. I can imagine myself advocating for universal healthcare in courses such as “Health Care Reform & Future of American Health System” and debating its merits with my peers. Studying in an environment where students confidently voice their opinions – conservative or liberal – will push me to question and strengthen my value system.

COMPETENCE. Two aspects that drew my attention to Penn’s BSN program were its high-quality research opportunities and hands-on nursing projects. Through its Office of Nursing Research, Penn connects students to faculty members who share similar research interests. As I volunteered at a nursing home in high school, I hope to work with Dr. Carthon to improve the quality of care for senior citizens. Seniors, especially minorities, face serious barriers to healthcare that I want to resolve. Additionally, Penn’s unique use of simulations to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world application impressed me. Using computerized manikins that mimic human responses, classes in Penn’s nursing program allow students to apply their emergency medical skills in a mass casualty simulation and monitor their actions afterward through a video system. Participating in this activity will help me identify my strengths and areas for improvement regarding crisis management and medical care in a controlled yet realistic setting. Research opportunities and simulations will develop my skills even before I interact with patients.

COMPASSION. I value giving back through community service, and I have a particular interest in Penn’s Community Champions and Nursing Students For Sexual & Reproductive Health (NSRH). As a four-year volunteer health educator, I hope to continue this work as a Community Champions member. I am excited to collaborate with medical students to teach fourth and fifth graders in the city about cardiology or lead a chair dance class for the elders at the LIFE Center. Furthermore, as a feminist who firmly believes in women’s abortion rights, I’d like to join NSRH in order to advocate for women’s health on campus. At Penn, I can work with like-minded people to make a meaningful difference.

CONFIDENCE. All of the Quakers that I have met possess one defining trait: confidence. Each student summarized their experiences at Penn as challenging but fulfilling. Although I expect my coursework to push me, from my conversations with current Quakers I know it will help me to be far more effective in my career.

The Five C’s of Caring are important heuristics for nursing, but they also provide insight into how I want to approach my time in college. I am eager to engage with these principles both as a nurse and as a Penn Quaker, and I can’t wait to start.

This student takes a creative approach to the essay, by using the Five C’s of Caring as a framework. This technique works especially well since these qualities relate to the student’s future career in nursing. In addition to emphasizing the student’s creativity and passion for nursing, having the Five C’s in all caps at the start of each paragraph gives this long essay a clear, easy-to-read format.

What really makes the essay stand out is the depth of the student’s fit with UPenn, and how they’re able to also share more about who they are. The student lists specific courses, research opportunities, technology, and student groups. We also learn that they are a first-generation student, are passionate about increasing access to healthcare (particularly for LGBTQ+ people, minorities, and the elderly), care about health education, and are a feminist who staunchly defends abortion rights (this controversial topic could be risky, but since UPenn is a very liberal school, this should be fine).

Overall, this essay paints a vivid picture of how the student would engage academically at Penn, and we also see clearly how the student would pursue their intellectual passions outside the classroom. Since this essay prompt focused on “intellectual and academic interests,” there was no need to address other aspects of UPenn beyond those supporting their various interests in healthcare.

See more “ Why This College?” essay examples to understand what makes a strong response.

Brainstorming for the “Why This College?” Essay

Now that we’ve gone through a couple examples, you might be wondering how to get started yourself.

Here are three steps we recommend to get your essay underway:

Reflect on your academic and career goals
Research unique opportunities related to your academic and extracurricular interests
Pick your top academic reasons for applying, and your top extracurricular/social reasons

1. Reflect on your academic and career goals.

The driver behind this essay needs to be you , and not the school itself. Anyone can write nice things about the college, but only you can explain why you would be a good fit for it.

Ask yourself:

What do you want to major in, if you know? If you’re undecided, what are the subjects you’re interested in?
Which career do you want to pursue, or what are the potential options?
What do you want to get out of college? Any particular skills or experiences?

Once you have a clear idea of your college plan, then you can dig into how the college can support your plan.

2. Research unique opportunities related to your academic, career, and extracurricular interests.

You might be wondering where you can find all these specific courses, clubs, and other resources. The school’s website is a good place to start, or if you have a general idea of what you’re looking for, you can even use Google with the school name in your search, such as “Tufts orchestra.”

Take a look at the website of your department/major and dig into the courses, fellowships, internships, and other resources. For course syllabi, you can visit the website of the professor who’s teaching the course; they’ll often post more detailed information than the online course catalog, including readings and concepts to be covered.

Clubs may have their own websites, but you can also try to find their Facebook groups or Instagram pages, which might be more current and even show events they’re hosting⁠.

If you can, try to speak with a current student. Your school counselor may be able to connect you with one, or you can also reach out to the admissions office to see if they can connect you. If not, speaking with an admissions officer is also great, or you can try to find day-in-the-life videos on YouTube.

3. Pick your top academic reasons for applying, and your top extracurricular/social reasons.

Once you’ve done your research and found specific opportunities to cite in your essay, pick your top 1-3 academic reasons and top 1-3 extracurricular ones, depending on the word count. Going back to the Tufts essay, the good example we gave actually was already 65 words, and it was only able to mention two courses.

Keep in mind that you not only have to describe resources specific to the school, but also how they’ll contribute to your goals. This personal aspect is just as important as the actual opportunities, so be sure to allot space to describe why exactly these resources make the school a good fit for you.

When it comes to academic reasons, you are free to list anything from special programs to unique majors to specific courses and professors. We want to caution you against “name-dropping” professors, however⁠—unless their work actually fits with your established interests and professional goals. Otherwise, it might seem like you’re being disingenuous.

We also want to reiterate that you should be sure to not only talk about academics in your essay, but also extracurriculars (unless the prompt asks you to focus only on academics, or if the word count is unusually short, i.e. 150 words or fewer). Again, college isn’t just about what you do in the classroom. Admissions committees want to be sure that accepted students will also contribute to the college community.

Outlining Your “Why This College?” Essay

Once you’ve identified your goals and the resources to support them, it’s time to start writing. An easy format/outline for your essay would be:

Introduction to your main goals and the why behind them (great spot for an anecdote).
Your first goal and how the school can support it.
Your second goal and how the school can support it.
Conclusion where you look towards the future and reaffirm how the college can get you there.

You can adjust the length of the essay by adding or subtracting the number of goals you write about. As noted above, r emember to include extracurriculars when sharing how the college can support your goals. You should plan to spend about 70% of your space on academic reasons, and 30% on extracurricular reasons.

Some students choose to use a more unconventional format, like the Five C’s of Caring essay above, and that works too if you want to show off your creative writing skills. Some examples include a letter to the school or a schedule of your day as a student at the college. These unconventional formats can be harder to pull off though, so only go that route if you’re confident in your writing. The letter format can be especially tricky since it’s easy to sound cheesy and overenthusiastic.

Regardless of the format you choose, remember these two things that your essay should do. It should:

Reveal more about your goals and interests.
D escribe how the school can help you develop your interests and reach your goals, by naming highly-specific and unique campus resources, both academic and extracurricular.

If your essay checks both of those boxes, you’re well on your way to making your candidacy more compelling to admissions officers!

Where to Get Your “Why This College?” Essay Edited

Do you want feedback on your “Why This College?” essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

How to Answer “Why Did You Choose This School?” | Sample Answers

If a college or university asks you a “why us” question, it wants to assess your level of commitment. It wants to find out if (1) you have researched the school and now know what it’s all about, (2) your actions demonstrate how consistent and dedicated you are, and (3) you are passionate about who you are and what you want to do. Why do these schools care about these points? Naturally, they want to know if you have what it takes to make the most of your college experience. So let’s look closely at how you can satisfy these schools’ curiosity.

Be specific

Pick one specific moment in your life to frame your narrative. It should be a point in time when you thought, “Wow, I really want to do X when I grow up.” Share the anecdote and explain how this event shaped your decision to attend school X or study major Y. From that “a-ha” moment until now, what concrete steps have you taken to follow through with the decision you made about your chosen major, career, or school?

Don’t rehash information found elsewhere in your application. For example, avoid listing all the courses you’ve taken, your standardized test scores, or all the extracurricular activities you’ve undertaken. Instead of drawing a list, focus on one specific life event or an interest you have spent considerable time pursuing.
Focus on telling a story about how you decided what you want to do and how you intend to pursue your goals in college.
Think hard about what you want admissions officers to see in you. What can’t they see by looking at your grades and test scores alone? Are you a deeply motivated person? Are your grades a bit lower than you wanted because you’ve spent a lot of time pursuing worthwhile side projects like volunteering or sports? If so, talk about these passions and how these activities support your future plans.
For example, in “ Building a Twenty-Story Apartment Building ,” a successful college admissions essay published by Johns Hopkins University, Kyle talks about his internship at a construction engineering firm. He uses this experience as a springboard to discuss his interests in civil engineering and what he hopes to do in the future after acquiring the training and tools that only Johns Hopkins can offer him.

Research your school

Research your target school’s academic and extracurricular programs. Pay attention to its mission statement and any special programs it offers students. Choose two to three classes offered by the department whose major you want to study and explain why you want to take them and what you hope to gain from those classes. Also, choose two to three extracurricular activities you’d participate in and explain why.

Double-check your facts. You don’t want your application thrown out because you said you wanted to study ballet at an engineering school!
Instead of listing all the benefits the school can offer, make sure to show how your personal goals are aligned with what the school hopes to achieve (its mission), its philosophy, and its curriculum design. In other words, you want to show that you and the school are on the same page and that only this school can give you what you need to succeed.
By taking the time to do your research, schools will be impressed by your motivation and will feel that you actually want to attend their school!
For example, in “ Dissonance—Leila ,” another essay posted by Johns Hopkins, Leila eloquently shows how Hopkins would be an environment in which she would thrive. She likes to pursue many topics at once, so Hopkins’ lack of a fixed core curriculum would suit her well. Her statement convinced admissions officers that she would not become lost in a less structured academic setting.

Be consistent

Your essay must prove your commitment to the decisions you’ve made. Every part of your essay must show what you want and how you intend to achieve that goal. A brief outline of your essay would like this:

Part 1: Start with a personal anecdote that led you to the “a-ha” moment (that moment when you knew what you wanted to do in the near future.)
Part 2: Talk about the actions you took once you decided what future you wanted. Did you take up some new activity or devote more time to a particular task? Did you seek out avenues to learn more about this passion/goal? If so, what did you do?
Part 3: Show how the school will help you achieve your goals. Research its courses, mission/vision, special programs, etc. Then explain how these aspects will benefit you and help you develop into the person you want to be. Also, show how this relationship between you and the school would be synergistic. What could you offer the school in return?
Part 4: Brief conclusion. Summarize your goals and how you look forward to your next adventures in life at the school of your choice.

Be honest (if you don’t know what you want to do)

Even if you do not have a concrete plan regarding your future career or major, you can still elaborate on what you hope to achieve in college. Explain what measures you would take to explore and narrow down your major and potential career paths. Most importantly, explain how this particular college would be instrumental in helping you make one of the most important decisions of your life.

For additional tips on how to draft your college admissions essays , please feel free to check out our other articles!

And before you send out your Common App Essay to your dream schools, be sure to try out Wordvice AI’s free AI Proofreading Tool and AI Paraphrasing Tool to instantly find and fix any errors in your essay before receiving essay editing services from Wordvice, one of the top editing and proofreading services in the business. Our editors will not only proofread for grammar, punctuation, and spelling but will apply style revisions to make your writing stronger and more compelling.

We hope the above advice gives you a better understanding of how to approach one of the most common supplemental admissions essay topics. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or contact us at [email protected].

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How to Write the “Why This College” Essay (With an Example!)

Varonika Ware is a content writer at Scholarships360. Varonika earned her undergraduate degree in Mass Communications at Louisiana State University. During her time at LSU, she worked with the Center of Academic Success to create the weekly Success Sunday newsletter. Varonika also interned at the Louisiana Department of Insurance in the Public Affairs office with some of her graphics appearing in local news articles.

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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

How to Write the “Why This College” Essay (With an Example!)

Applying to college is a big decision that brings a lot of excitement and stress. This is especially true when it comes to answering the “why this college” prompt asked by so many colleges. However daunting these prompts might seem, you got this. Keep reading to learn tips and tricks to write your “why this college” essay, and take a look at an example essay!

“Why this college?” essay prompts

The “Why this college?” essay is probably one of the most common essays you’ll come across during your application process. This is partially because admissions committees want students that’re as interested and passionate about their institution. Some popular colleges that offer “why this college?” prompts include:

Columbia University : “Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. (150 words or fewer)
Duke University : “What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there is something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (max. 250 words)”
University of Michigan : “Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests?” (Minimum: 100 words/Maximum: 550 words)

As you can see, all three of the prompts are a variation of the basic “why this college” question. Let’s take a look at a sample response essay written for Columbia University.

“Why this college?” sample essay

Dear Columbia University,

This is probably the hundredth essay you’ve read in the sea of applicants, and as you’re likely expecting, I could tell you that I’m different from them all. Though in some ways, I’m the same. Like them, I want to stand on the corner of Broadway and 116th St. and know I chose the perfect school to study literary arts with a focus on fiction writing.

Even more so, I strive to be one of the Columbia Greats that inspired me to pick up a pen. Though, you shouldn’t want me because I might be the next Allen Ginsberg, but because I plan on being a writer that captures the virtue found in the rye of J.D. Salinger, the watchful gaze of Zora Neale Hurston, and the freshness of my own style. Amongst your walls and tutelage, these literary greats blossomed, as I hope to.

Applicant Name

Why this essay works:

Starts with a compelling statement to interest the audience
Answers the “why this college?” question by discussing notable alumni and the arts program
Uses a unique approach to the prompt question that reflects interest in the major of choice
Explains why the admissions committee should choose this applicant
Stays within the word count limit

Also see: How to respond to this year’s Common App essay prompts

Mistakes to avoid when writing a “why this college” essay

Generalizing.

When writing any essay, generalizing usually isn’t the way to go. Readers want to get invested in the story or argument you’re presenting, and the admissions office is no different. Details are a key component of making your essay stand out.

The admissions committee wants to get to know you and assess how you’ll fit into their institution. No two applicants are the same, and you should strive to prove that through your unique essay.

Placating the admissions office

It can be easy to fall back on simply telling your college’s admissions committee what they want to hear. However, you shouldn’t just pull facts and figures from the website or quote the college’s brochure. Individualize your essay not only to capture the attention of your reader, but to display interest in your college of choice.

Anyone can put general information in their application, but it takes effort to explain why you want to attend a particular school, how admission would affect your life, and what the school has to gain from your attendance. Think of it as a persuasive essay where you have to back up your argument with details.

Also see: An insider’s perspective into what goes on in college admissions offices

Tips for writing your essay

Find a connection.

Even before you start writing your essay, figure out the connection between you and your college of choice.

Is there a particular professor you want to study under? Are you a legacy applicant? Is it the campus of your dreams? Are you excited for a particular program?

Asking yourself questions like this can help pinpoint what’s motivating you to apply to a university and why they should admit you. Explaining your connection to your school of choice can show the admissions committee that you belong on their campus.

It will strengthen your application and help you individualize your application. Create an interesting or anecdotal story out of your connection in order to set yourself apart.

Also see: How to write an essay about yourself

Outline and edit

College essays usually range from around 200 – 500 words, which can go by much quicker than you might think. This is why it’s ideal to outline your essay once you’ve decided what to write about. It can be easy to get distracted by the little details, but emphasize the main points that are essential to the story you’re trying to tell the admissions office.

It’s also a good idea to thoroughly read and edit your essay multiple times. You’ll want to submit the complete and final version of your essay, not something that reads like a rough draft.

Remember, your parents, advisors, teachers, and peers can be helpful resources during revision. Feedback is an important aspect of the editing process.

Additional resources

Congratulations on starting your applications to college and working so diligently on them! Fortunately, Scholarships360 has even more resources to offer that can help propel your college journey in the right direction.

Start choosing your major
Find the supplemental essay guide for your college
Learn what “demonstrated interest” means for your application

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Guide to "Why This School" Essays

The recording will load in a moment., about this livestream.

Learn how to write an essay responding to "Why This School" prompts. Hale Jaeger will walk through how to write college-specific essays, covering what admissions officers are looking for in this essay, techniques to research unique info about a school, and the biggest turnoffs in a "Why This School" essay.

He'll also open up the floor for a Q&A session where he'll answer any and all questions about "Why This School" essays.

Video Transcript:

Just a little context about who I am if you haven't been on any of my streams before, I'm currently a super senior at Yale University studying neuroscience. This is my fifth year working with CollegeVine now. And today, I'm going to be walking through writing the why school essay, it's a pretty common essay type that you'll run into as you're preparing your applications. So I want to give a nice thorough walkthrough of what that looks like, and where you might want to take it. But if you have specific questions, please throw those in the chat box. Throughout. I will have a q&a at the end. But I want to try to answer your questions throughout if I can. If it's not going to work out right away, I'll just save it for the Q&A. But I'll try to be checking your questions as we go through.

So without further ado, I just want to show you guys what exactly we're going to be covering today. And so we have a couple of different bullet points here. One, what does a why school question look like? What are colleges looking for in response, how to think about the why school problem, then what you all came here for how to start writing the wise or essay. And I've actually given this presentation a few times, which I say, just so that you guys know that this is being recorded, and it will be entering the archive is pretty much within hours or minutes of me finishing the presentation. So if you missed the beginning, you can always go back. And you can watch it again over and over if you want a home. But this is going to be recorded and available on the CollegeVine website in the future.

So jumping right in starting with what this question looks like, you've probably already seen it probably know what you expect it to look like. But that's why I want to go through a couple different examples. So the first one I have here is really straightforward. What is it about Yale that has led you to apply 125 words or fewer? Short and sweet, right to the point? It says Why do you want to go here and say it in 125 words, not that much. Not really, you know, too difficult to wrap your head around.

The second one here is the University of Michigan prompt and it's a little different. It says describe the unique qualities that attracted to a specific undergraduate college or school including preferred admissions and dual degree programs to which you're applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? 500 words. So this is different in a couple ways from the Yale prompt. It asks you to select a specific undergraduate college so that might be for you, the College of Letters, sciences, and the arts, may be the College of Engineering, it could be their business school, when you're really focusing in on I mean, University of Michigan as a whole institution, but rather just that one, one college within it. And that includes if there's a special program you're applying for, or if you're trying to do more than one of the colleges, you want to talk about that in specific. In addition, you're focusing in specifically on the curriculum and how the curriculum is going to support your interests. And so you actually have a lot more space as compared to the year one, it's about four times as long. And so you have a lot more space to get into the details of your interest in the University of Michigan and the programs that you're applying to.

Similarly, if you look down at the NYU question, it says "We would like to know more about your interest in NYU. What motivated you to apply to NYU? Why have you applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college program or area of study? If you have applied to more than one, please also tell us why you're interested in these additional areas of study or campuses, we want to understand why NYU? 400 words." So this one, like the Michigan one is asking for a little more from you, they want to know about the specific college, if you want it to be in a specific place. They want to know about that. And they also want to know like your area of study. So you're interested in what you actually want to be doing when you're there. from an academic standpoint. Of course, that doesn't bar you from spending a little time talking about things that are outside of or exogamous from your academics. But that is should definitely be a focus, especially since you have so interspace 400 words for this one.

Then the last example I've pulled here is from Tufts. It says "Which aspects of the Tufts undergraduate experience prompt your applicant. In short, why Tufts? 150 words." This one is very similar to the Yale essay, they just want to know what is making you apply here. And you don't have a lot of room to go into it.

We'll go through some examples of these questions have answers to these questions later on. But first, I just want to sort of summarize what these questions look like. Because we've seen a lot of differences here. There are the straightforward ones like Yale and Tufts just say, "Why do you want to go here?" Then there are the ones that are more like NYU or Michigan that say, "Why do you want to go here? And also why are you choosing this major? Or this campus? Or this department, etc?" So that asks for a slightly more nuanced or detailed answer to the question.

And then there are some others some other types of approaches to this question that colleges might take. That exam might be "Why do you want to go here? And how have you familiarized yourself with the college? What have you done to understand what it's like to be here?" Oh, excuse me. Friday evenings, am I right? They might also ask you about the mission of the school, they might say "This is our mission statement. How does this align with you? How does this reflect who you are?" Then they might ask something similar: "What why is it important to have X religion at the heart of your education?" and that's obviously going to come from a religious school, a Catholic school or a Baptist school, something that actually puts religion at the core of the education. A secular school is not going to ask you why is it important to have a secular education?

And the last one I've given here, as an example is "How will you explore your interests here?" So this is asking you to name some specific resources, and talk about how you're going to take advantage of the opportunities that are available on campus.

Obviously, this list this slide is by no means comprehensive, there are still questions that could take you by surprise that fall into the "Why school?" category, but this is a pretty good way to start thinking about recognizing these prompts.

And so before I move forward I want see, okay, Are you guys having trouble hearing me? Can you put a message in the chat, if you can hear me, I'm getting a little bit of feedback here that says there isn't audio, I just want to make sure that you are all able to hear me? Before I keep going, obviously. And if you can't, I will check in with my team and see what's going on. Okay, I'm seeing a bunch of likes. So I'm going to assume the issue resolved itself. Thank you guys for giving me that sort of validation here. I appreciate I am so sorry about the yawns. By the way, I don't know where they're coming from. But I will do my best to control them. I am excited to be here enthusiastic to be here, I promise.

So moving on you, we're going to talk about what colleges are actually looking for when they ask these types of questions. And so there are three main components here that I want to talk about a passion for attending, the reasons that you want to attend, and whether or not you're a good match. So they want to see that you care about going. They want to understand why you care about going that's probably the most straightforward aspect of it. And then the last one, the sort of secret question here is, why are you and the school a good match for one another. So let's get into a little more detail on this.

The passion about attending is going to come from giving really specific answers showing that you've done your research that you care. You care enough to spend the time on it. So they want to see that you're talking about things that are specific to them. And not just generic could be any college in America, any college in a specific place.

You want to make sure that you are personalizing this essay. And in addition, the familiarity it's kind of same as the other side of the same coin. Have you done your due diligence? Have you made the effort to understand what the school is like and know what's going on there? Then the thinking about the reasons that you're giving, which we'll get into in just a moment. Are they authentic? Are they genuine? Are they just things that come across as superficial? And I'll talk a little more about what that means in a moment. But this is sort of a check to see that you actually do want to attend. And then lastly depth. Are you doing more than just saying look, I did the research here. Some people here are some places here are some opportunities that this campus has? Or are you going into a little more detail? Are you telling us how those opportunities are going to apply to you why they're exciting to you, and not just cool things for a school to have?

To get a little deeper into those reasons that authenticity that I was mentioning? What are your authentic reasons here, your genuine reasons, and they can be academic, or they can be non academic, but they should be authentic, like I said. So some things that do count as authentic reasons that will really resonate with a reader are, you know, having a sense of community, with the people who are on campus, the students, the professor's, etc. Maybe there are specific programs that they have that other places don't have, that are really exciting to you, that you want to take advantage of. And that can be again, academic or non academic. And then that last bullet point is interesting and important, and how are you going to use your education at this school to achieve the goals that you've set for yourself? Now, what are your goals? And how will your education at x school help you achieve them?

In contrast, there are a couple less authentic reasons. ones that don't fly, don't go over so well to an admissions reader. And those are things that are going to be more superficial, like clout or prestige, or your post graduation salary. Colleges really see themselves as more than a stepping stone more than a rung on a ladder, they see themselves as an experience. And, honestly, they are at experience, it's four or more years of your life that you're spending that you're building relationships and growing. And so thinking ahead mean towards the future is fine. But just thinking about it in terms of getting a good job, or getting a job that pays well isn't really going to cut it if they're looking for a reason that is going to resonate with a school and their admissions committee.

And then the last thing I wanted to touch on here is whether you're a good match for the school or not. So it's not enough to just say, these are the good resources that you have. This is what makes you a good school. This is very interesting to all people. It's not about to say I should go to this school because of all these cool achievements I have, you have to really focus on the overlap that you have. With the school, you know why these resources will help you, why you're a good match for the school, not just why it is a good school. And that's a place where a lot of people get tripped up. So think about it, as if you are putting yourself into almost every sentence, if not every sentence, make sure that this essay is really about you as much as it is about the school.

So moving on to how to think about these things and how to conceive of the essay and the question. This is a lot like every other essay that you will write for any school. And that is to help you stand out to help you matter in the eye and make make you really seem really cool in the eyes of the admissions readers. Because they have so many applications to get through. They have so many qualified people, if you just look at statistics, so they want to know what makes you you. And so this should reveal something about you. And it should tell us something about who you are and what you are going to achieve.

So you want to consider yourself going to consider you know who you are and what you want and what you want from your college. And that will really help you guide the direction of this essay. Again, as I just said in the last slides, don't write essays that are just about you, and how good you are, how cool you are. You're trying to convey who you are not what you've done. So you want to write well. You want to show what your key personality traits are. And you want to show where you're going to fit within the community at this school.

Oh, so you're trying to make sure you are giving them the grounds to understand a couple things, whether you fit with the school and that means academics it means social culture, it means the values of the institution. Again, that passion showing if you are willing to do the research that you care abotu. They are also obviously always looking for writing ability. If your essay is riddled with typos, that's not going to go over so well. And it's going to be a pretty easy way to weed something out.

And you also want to demonstrate your interest and the department, the major the program, the college, the school, whatever it is that you're writing this essay about, you want to show that you actually are interested. And then finally, whether you're going to be a positive contributor, once you're on campus are you going to bring something to the school that you know is going to make it a better place is going to help your peers grow. That's what they're really hoping to find out. And so the ways to get that information to know how to talk about this and to get that good research done, are, you know, here, we have lots and lots of resources that you can go through, to try to find answers to your questions to understand what being a student out of school is like.

So some of the resources that I recommend you look through are listed here on the left, and missions websites are, you know, my number one go to, it's a great place to start. It's not shouldn't be where you end, but it should definitely be where you start. Because admissions websites are where they collect a lot of information that they think is going to be important to applicants to prospective students. So it's a good jumping off point to find things that are worth researching more. From there, you'll probably investigate the school website a little bit, I have the departmental websites open so you can see what their academic programs look like. And then a little more detail.

And once you've found a program that you're really interested in, you might check out the course catalogs which are often available online. And that'll help you find specific classes. So you can see exactly how they're supporting each major how they're teaching. And if it's going to be in a style that resonates with how you learn. Also, a campus tour is a usually a pretty good way to do some research on a school to get to know it a little better. It also gives you direct interaction with a college student.

Obviously, most places aren't doing tours right now. But a lot of places do have virtual tours, or some kind of replacement, whether it's on their social media, which is another resource down below. Or if they're doing forums and panels and events that allow you to have that same kind of interaction with current students. Which leads me right to the next one, which is reaching out to current students a lot of the time if you email and admissions office, they'll be able to forward your question to a student who can answer if a student isn't already the one working at the desk, or that emails coming through.

Which leads me to the next point admissions offices, you can talk to the admissions office, don't be afraid to call, send an email, whatever it is to get your questions answered, they might put you on the line with an admissions officer or a student, like I said, that'll help to give you a sense of what that school is like and give you specific answers to the questions that you have.

After that, I recommend checking out some blogs, some social media, often admissions pages will link you over to student blogs, and the official social media accounts. And those can actually keep you astride abreast of what's going on on campus. And that's a really good way to see what's going on what events are happening, how this campus is staying engaged, even, and especially now.

And then the last one that's listed here as an online forum, these I don't necessarily recommend being the your top choice for doing some research, there's very little way to verify where the information is coming from. And so it's not all good. It's not all helpful or truthful. But if you're just looking for something and you can't find it anywhere else, you can feel free to check out those places like college confidential. One thing that isn't on this slide, here are the CollegeVine College fair panels that we did last week. If you missed it last week, we had a whole long series of events that were just panels and fireside chats with current students at schools all over the country of all different kinds. With moderators, just asking questions live to get the answers that people were looking for about the student experience. And we recorded all of those, and we put them back in our archives on our website. So if you're looking for information, really in depth about a certain school, absolutely. Take a look at those. I think they'll be really helpful.

While you're doing all this research, it's not quite enough to just take it all in and just listen or read it. It's going to be important for you to ask note Ask questions and take notes. You know, find the things that are interesting to you. And not just the generic things, write down the specific programs, the environment, what the curriculum looks like, what the course requirements are, so you know what you're getting into that you can keep those thoughts straight. And when you have questions that don't seem to be answered by the websites, feel free to ask them reach out to the admissions office to current students to offer admissions officers, your tour guides, staff, faculty, anybody who's on campus, or has been on campus recently, is going to be more than happy to answer your questions.

One caveat to all this research is that if you do too much of it all at once, schools will start to blend together, you'll get really tired, and you're going to not like the schools that you are tired for as much as the schools that you're fresh for. So if you're feeling fatigued, give yourself a break, take a step away. And just come back to it with fresh eyes. And another time. And something that this research can really help with is writing the why school essay, but it's also important to figure out if you want to go to school at all. And a lot of people don't look at it that way because they think it's just they've come up with a list of schools, and then they just say, I'm going to apply to all these no matter what. But if you're doing the research, and you find that there aren't really things about the school that you would enjoy, then it's totally fine to modify your list based on this kind of research.

You do want to make sure you're maximizing that research, though. And that's why you take notes, ask questions. But you also should go in with, you know, some ideas of the type of information that you are trying to get out of this research. So you want to be thinking, what academic programs and opportunities do they have? Or the things that I'm interested in? Where is this college? Is it close to home? Is it far away? Is it in a big city? Is it in the middle of nowhere? If it is in the city? Is it you know, really integrated with the city? Or does it have its own separate distinct campus? Now? Is it a big school or a small school, people can feel lost in big schools and they can feel trapped in small schools is all about knowing what's right for you.

You'll also want to check out if they have anything that's unique or different, like a new residential system, or some traditions that really stand out. And so that can be something that you latch on to. And then this other thing here that I wrote, what is the college proud of? That's something that what are they advertising, what do they think are their greatest hits their coolest programs and achievements? Because that's the kind of thing that they're excited about, and that they're going to be funneling a lot of energy into. And is it something that, you know, resonates with you, I say resonate a lot for this presentation, because it's honestly, a really important word for what you're looking for that connection that resonating between you and the college and one has to offer.

Some things to avoid when you're doing this research, you can get easy to be sucked in to the statistics of it, the rankings. These are generally not helpful pieces of information, especially for writing the essays, because statistics and rankings don't actually tell you very much about the school and a specific way. Just saying that, Oh, this is the number one school doesn't really mean, it's going to be the right place for you. And in addition, those rankings take into account so many different pieces of information, including how many smoke alarms there are on campus. So you want to make sure that you are finding good specific information that isn't going to change year to year and actually shows us what your relationship to the school would be like.

And as I said before, you want to maximize what the information that you're getting is giving to you, you know, especially the questions that you ask of students. And so you want to think when they give their answers, how does their insight How did their answers reflect upon what's interesting to you? Hmm. So if they have some things that are their favorite aspects of their school or their program, are those things that also excite you, and vice versa, if they have things that they really dislike, are those things that are going to be deal breakers for you? Are they things that you might actually enjoy? So if someone says Yeah, I like this program, I thought it was going to love it. But then it turned out to be really hands on and I prefer theoretical learning. I like to sit in class and just think, but you're somebody who's really hands on and loves to do application based learning and their negatives or your positives.

So it's really about understanding how their information and their attitudes apply to what you're looking for. And that brings us obviously to the last bit of what I wanted to talk about today, which is how to start writing the essays. Now that we know how to think about them, so I'm just going to dive right in, because this is the bulkiest medius part of it. And I want to make sure that we are getting to cover that kind of information. So again, you definitely want to be focusing in on authentic reasons, genuine reasons, reasons that align with you and the school. And so some good examples are, you know, really having a connection to that place. If it's something that you've built over time, for example, a sense of community, if you really vibe with the people on campus, that's important to note, are there any specific programs, academic or non academic, that you really want to take advantage of? And then how are you going to use your education to achieve the goals that you've set for yourself?

Then again, the things to avoid, like prestige and rankings and post graduation salary. I've already talked about why that's not, you know, really an acceptable way to go about it things on the no fly list here. But then, something we haven't yet talked about, are generic reasons and superficial reasons. Generic reasons are things that don't apply to just that college don't apply to that school in specific. So location is a good example of one that people think often that they're writing a very specific essay, because they're writing about how excited they are to be in New York City, or in California, or wherever they're planning to be. In general, there are as you think about it, and there are hundreds of colleges and in around New York City, there are hundreds and thousands of colleges in the country, and their locations are not that different from one another. So it's not actually quite helpful.

Especially think of if you're thinking about a place like Yale, for example, a lot of people say I love that I'm really close to, I'm really in New Haven that's close to New York City, it's close to Boston, I can take the Amtrak either way, if I wanted to, I could take the Amtrak all the way down to Washington, DC. Sure. But that's certainly not special. There are several other colleges in New Haven, there are tons of colleges in Connecticut, and between Boston and New York, there's not a lot about being here that sets apart Yale from other college.

And similarly superficial elements don't really tell you much about what your love for a certain school. So if the buildings are really pretty like they are here, that's great. But what we're more interested in is what you're doing with them what you're doing inside of them, rather than just the aesthetic beauty. So you know, you can want to talk more about the resources than how they look. And that'll be really helpful for you, if you are struggling to think of authentic reasons, definitely avoid how pretty the architecture is, you could talk about the ways the architecture is functional and supports learning but if you only have about 100 or 125 words, you might want to economize on space, talking about a stronger reason.

And then, as I've said a couple times in this presentation already, this essay is about how you and the school match up where you guys Connect, and what ties you together. So going around this little circle here, you know, what are your specific goals? And how will you achieve them using the college's resources? How will you take advantage of the opportunities that they present you? What are you going to do about what you have in front of you? And then what do you personally feel a connection to at this school? You know, why are you tied here? And what makes a college not just a good place to study not even just the best perfect place to study. But why is it perfect for you? What is that connection? And a good rule of thumb for this is are you and the college mentioned in you know, every sentence or every other sentence.

So you'd rather write an essay that says cut x college does this really well. And that is exciting to me because this rather than writing a paragraph about why it's a good school, another paragraph about why you're good, like those resources and why you're a good student, weave it together. It's going to be a lot more effective that way. And so now we're going to go through a couple of Example essays, I'm going to read them aloud. And then I'm going to go into how they take these points and apply them. The first one is that tufts essay that we talked about all the way back at the beginning, which aspects of the tough undergraduate experience, prompt your application, in short, why tops 100 to 100 keywords. Like I said, I'm going to start by reading this response.

So it reads, someday, I hope to conduct medical research in developing countries, I'm attracted to tufts because of the wide array of majors offered and support for undergraduate research. To understand the human brain, I intend on studying biology, neuroscience, and psychology. In addition, in addition to outstanding faculty in each of these areas, Tufts organizes initiatives like the international research program, through this program, I would work with other students and professors on an international project related to brain diseases, this arbitrary, will offer a taste of my future career and help me narrow the scope of my future studies.

So that's a mouthful, but there are actually a lot of really important elements in it. So they start right off with this is my goal, this is the goal I want to achieve. And this is how Tufts is going to help me do that helped me achieve that. I said, I want to do medical research in developing countries. And then they say, top supports that because they have lots of good undergraduate research. They have strong faculty for biology, neuroscience, and psychology, which will help me in my very specific interest in brain studies, and brain disease. And then it goes on to name a specific program, the International Research Program, and how they're going to use it. So they're not just going to do research internationally, they're going to do an international project on brain disease with other students and professors. So they're engaging the community at Tufts. And they're also pursuing an academic intellectual passion through a specific resource.

And then the last sentence here, this opportunity will offer a taste of my future career and help me narrow the scope of my future studies. AI is nice, because it tells us again, where we're going in the future, how we're going to get there, and why it's important that tufts is providing this opportunity. This is a pretty good way to have, you know, a lot of strong ideas, make an appearance and trust 100 150 words. This essay, by the way, is taken directly from the CollegeVine blog. So if you are looking to read it again later, and see what makes it strong, definitely feel free to check out the blog post that this presentation, this livestream is based off of wanting to do another case study, this time of a slightly longer essay on this one is for why Penn, and it's not one we talked about, we didn't see this prompt earlier. So I'm going to read it out loud.

"How did you discover your intellectual and academic interests? And how will you explore them at the University of Pennsylvania? Please respond considering the undergraduate school you have selected." This one gives you 300 to 450 words. So it's very similar to the NYU essay, for example. And it's asking you about your intellectual and academic passions and interests. So that's definitely the central focus. And they want to know how you were going to use your specific undergraduate college, you know, engineering, arts and sciences, Wharton, or nursing to achieve those goals, and exploring those passions. So this person, I only posted an excerpt from their essay, this is not the whole thing. But it's what fits neatly on a slide and it's enough to get the point across so I'm going to read it out loud and talk about why this is a strong response and also maybe a ways in which you could grow and start starts off.

"Sister Simone Roche, a theorist of nursing ethics once said, caring is the human mode of being. I have long been inspired by SR roaches, five C's of caring, commitment, conscience, competence, compassion, and confidence. Pen both embraces and fosters these values through a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum and unmatched access to service and volunteer opportunities. commitment. reading through the activities to which Penn Quakers devote their time in addition to academics felt like drinking water from a firehose in the best possible way. As a prospective nursing student with interests outside of my major, I value this level of flexibility I plan to leverage Penn's liberal arts curriculum to gain an in depth understanding of the challenges faced by the LGBT community, especially regarding health care access. Through courses like inter interactional processes with LGBT individuals and volunteering at the Missouri Center for Research, I have to learn how to better support the Penn LGBT community as well as my family and friends, including my cousin who came out as trans last year."

So this essay takes a pretty interesting approach as this nice little introductory paragraph, where it sets up a value system that they identify with, they say these are my values. And then they say pattern shares these values. And its curriculum, as well as its service and volunteer opportunities are the best ways to demonstrate that. So it says, look, pet and I have the same values, we have the same mission. And this is how Penn goes about it. One thing I generally am not a fan of, in writing essays like this, and in general, is using a quotation, you only have 300 to 450 words here to make your case, you should definitely use your own words and not somebody else's. Find ways to paraphrase or apply this information without directly quoting and losing some of your own voice for somebody else's.

But then, once they've introduced what their topic is going to be, this person takes a really cool tack. And each of the following paragraph starts with one of these five C's of caring. So the first one obviously, is commitment. But then there's another paragraph each for conscious conscience, competence, compassion and confidence, as well as a conclusion. This one again, is on the CollegeVine blog if you want to read the whole thing. But this format is cool, because it stands out, it's definitely a little different. And it also partitions the essay really nicely. It's very easy to read and logical bytes. And so the person who wrote this essay gives some more specifics throughout the body.

So commitment, they talk about how they're planning to use the liberal arts curriculum, in particular, to balance out a lot of different aspects of an education that will help them approach the health care access challenges faced by the LGBT community. So you're saying, this is a specific course i'm going to use showing they've done their research. And they're saying going to save this is how I'm going to use it, I'm going to be volunteering with this pen specific center. And I'm going to be learning how to support these people, this group of people in ways that are meaningful. And then they draw a personal connection at the end of the paragraph by saying that their cousin has recently come out as trans. And that is a big part of the impetus for them to take advantage of all of the different types of education that Penn has to offer.

So moving forward, it sounds a lot like there are lots of different schools asking lots of different questions, and you have to write a brand new essay for every single one. And to a degree that is true. As I said, it definitely needs to still be specific, it needs to be school oriented, tailored for the program to which you're applying. But there are some things that won't change. So the main thing to remember here is that this is an essay about a school and about you so the school part will change. But the U part is probably going to be pretty similar from essay to essay from school to school, you are still interested in pursuing the same departments, the same topics, the same methods. And you still have the same set of values. And you still are looking for a specific college experience and having life goals that are beyond college.

So those things are all constant, that's going to be the core of what your essay is building from. Of course, this doesn't mean you can just write an essay and then swap out landmarks and program names and school names. First of all, it's super dangerous, because you might not change something and then you'll be submitting to Harvard with it. Gail, so written in your essay, and that's going to be a pretty, pretty rough it's not going to reflect well on your passion or your proofreading.

Definitely you do have to write a new essay for each school but you haven't you can also think about these things as good starting points for what you want to talk about because you are presumably the same person throughout the entire public. process. As you saw, we have some short prompts like the yellow one, and some longer ones like Penn, Michigan and my U. And so the short ones, maybe you can cover everything pretty short and sweet, not too difficult, the longer ones you might struggle with a little in terms of filling the space. And I'm not saying that you have to write every single word that they allow you to write. If they say 500 words, you don't have to write 500 words. But if you if they say 500 words, and you submit a 125 word essay, it's going to be pretty obvious why that is.

And that's going to be that you didn't try or didn't adapt an essay from one school to the other, you borrowed something you already had written for elsewhere. And so you definitely want to fill in up to about 90% of the space that you're given. And to do that, you might want to include more details about you or about the school. Really, what you'll see as I continue talking is that they are intertwined as they should be. So if you're looking to focus more on you and yourself, give us more about what your worldview is like, what are your values, what is your perspective on the world around you. Or if you've had specific experiences, like anecdotes that you can share about how you've come to find the goals, or tried to achieve your goals in your past.

And then finally, how you'll be a positive contributor to campus, what are you going to bring, and that's going to make you a special addition to campus. On the other hand, you can talk about the college a little bit more, do they have programs or research that are really exciting for you? Do they have organizations, groups, interest programs, things that are going to be very specific, and to this school and help you to differentiate yourself here. And then finally, how you'll use the resources available to you this should be pretty standard, you can't just name a resource, you have to see what you're going to with it.

So as you can see, even though I artificially split these up into things that are about you and things that are about the school, there's a lot of overlap between the two categories of things you can talk about to extend a long a longer prompt. So to summarize, everything we've talked about, this does bring me to the end of the presentation. There are some really great ideas to focus on when you're trying to write a white school essay. And there are some things to steer clear of. One is that you want to avoid is copy pasting, forgetting to change the details. Like I said, don't apply to Harvard with a Yale essay, it's not gonna fly.

Now, you also want to make sure you are fact checking all your work, don't talk about programs that don't exist. Don't talk about majors that don't exist, or things that used to exist, but no longer, make sure you are getting up to date information to include. And then avoid talking about why the school is great and avoid and not saying anything about you and avoid saying things that are all about how great you are. And I'm not talking about the school at all, you would rather be talking about things that align you with the school that make you a good match. And that also means avoiding generic aspects of the school, don't talk about location, don't talk about how pretty the buildings are, or how good the food is, those aren't gonna be helpful for understanding why the school is the right place for you. And then something I just mentioned was not using the full word count, like I said, you should get within about 90% and 10% on either side is usually my go to if they even allow you to write more than the maximum word out.

So you know, make sure you're using the space provided even if you don't use every single letter that you have.

And the last thing to avoid here is value misalignment. I touched super briefly on this earlier, but basically what I mean by value alignment is understand what the school is like. And right to that. And for example, most schools most higher institutions of learning have a fairly leftward leaning bent politically. And that's not to say there aren't conservative students on campus or conservative organizations or that conservative people are silenced or oppressed in any way. But it is definitely something that might rub our reader the wrong way if you don't talk about it with incredible grace. And so we they want people to have things in common with them. You know, this is an opportunity for you to share something that is a connection between you and a school, rather than something that would divide you or something that you have to overcome.

So definitely make sure you're not saying anything racist or homophobic or bigoted in any way that's not going to work for any school you're applying to. So make sure you're just hitting the values that are going to To endear you to the school, rather than the ones that are estranging. And I always try to end on some positives here things to actually remember and focus on. Use this as an opportunity to tell them more about who you are, what you want out of life, and how the schools education is going to help you achieve those goals. Make sure you're settling in on authentic and personal reasons for wanting to attend. And make sure you are as specific as possible. You should always be writing these with the specific school in mind, not just writing in general template essay that you can copy paste all over the town.

So those are the lessons I want to leave you with. But now I want to move into answering the questions that you have the things that are going on in your mind, I've done a lot of talking. And so it's going to be really, really helpful for you guys to have the interaction with me. And I'll try to get to everything. But if I can't answer your questions, by the time we sort of run out, that's totally where we are. I want to I someone asked what is the blog post that I'm referencing, so let me just take a moment to find it and send you guys the link.

See, let's see.

Here we go. I think this is where I've been before, and want to make sure you guys have access to that. So I'm going to send that to everyone. So you should be able to see the blog post that I'm talking about. And that can be that's one of many, many prompts that we cover on our blog. So if you want to just read about some of the possible responses that you can give and how to approach all different types of essays and school specific ones, I'd definitely give that a look.

But for now, I would love to answer the questions that you have. So please do drop those in the box. Yeah. Okay. So I'm also getting a request for the link for the Save videos for later access. So let me give that to you as well. That's pretty straightforward. If you just go to collegevine.com, slash live streams, there's a button there that shows you the recorded ones, but I'll drop it in the chat as well.

And that should give you access to everything that we've ever recorded, ever done. But you can also just go through our live streams page. And that'll also categorize them. So if you go to our live regular live streams, page collegevine.com slash live streams, you can scroll down and it'll have some playlists recommended for you. So Q&A's with current students, ideas about college essays. There's one just for college admissions as a general topic, there's also one a playlist for pre-meds. And so there are lots and lots of really good presentations by all of these great CollegeVine people. So please, please give those a look if you are interested in hearing more about some of these other things.

What other questions do you have, though, maybe about this essay type about college admissions in general. I want to make sure that we're tackling everything that is going on in your minds. all at the same time. I guess I'll ask you guys a couple questions. I have some polls for you to answer here. So I'll send a couple your way while I am waiting for your questions to roll into me. And it would be really helpful to get some of your feedback. So I have a question here is it common to write about professors. Um, and so this is something that you can definitely touch on. If there's a professor who's doing really incredible work or with whom you have a personal connection, it's totally fine to mention them. But you should also take the opportunity to explain that your job, don't just say I'd love to work with their lab. And this professors approach to something is really interesting. And I'd love to explore that further ask them questions and get involved with some research of my own. And so it might not work so well.

And those shorter essays, those 125 word essays, because just because there's not a lot of room to do something like that, but in the longer ones, you can definitely use that as an opportunity. Don't just list a ton of professors say I want to work with this person, and that person, and this person seems really cool and interesting. But it can be something if you have a genuine interest in the work that that professor is doing. It can be worthwhile to put a little effort into that. And talk more about school values. What are some school values I've seen? Where can we find them? What are value differences among the ivy schools, um, so school values, General ones that most schools will abide by tolerance, diversity, accommodation, encouragement, something that I think has been really special here at Yale is a culture of collaboration, and everybody is working together and trying to build each other up, everyone is driven but not competitive. So it's a very rewarding place to be for that reason.

And I think that sets it apart from some other schools of its caliber, that it is really truly a place where people are building each other up and create and helping each other in an environment that is healthy. And I love that. schools will often have a mission statement or a VAT vision statement. And those will encapture encapsulate some of the values and make an explicit way to make sure that you're not going against them. But mostly, it's fairly straightforward, you just have to put a little thought into am I writing something that is going to go against a school's mission here, for example, if you're planning to apply to a Catholic school, I might not recommend writing about, you know, your views on a woman's right to an abortion. And that's, you know, maybe something just to navigate away from in this particular context, definitely a conversation worth having. But maybe not in the why school essay here? How can we show not tell in these essays?

That's a great question, because it can be somewhat difficult to do it really quickly. If you have any anecdotes to share, about an experience at a school or an experience that has led you to believe the school is the right place for you that can be really meaningful and very show not totally. For example, when I applied to Yale, they asked a similar version of that question. It was a while ago, so it has changed a little. But I wrote about a specific campus tradition, or that I could really imagine myself taking part in and how that connected me to the sense of place that is really distinctive here. So anecdotes are always a good way to see to do a litmus test on whether you're showing not telling.

Should you end your essay with excited to walk by x to walk to x library and go to why building as a yearly, I mean, you absolutely can do something like that, I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't do in such a specific way. But if you have something that's meaningful in that way, go for it. I mean, if I think that there are lots and lots of ways to do it, so I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't send this way. But you can definitely work this kind of information into the essay earlier, you say, you know, I can read envision myself, you know what, I'm excited to go to this library and participate in this activity, as a gala and join a community, you know, that is really passionate about this, you know, so I don't think that's necessarily like a standard way to end this essay. But you can take it in any direction that you see fit.

I'm talking about paraphrasing the school's mission statement and applying it to how you are as a person, you can absolutely do that. I mean, it's something that I probably can't see myself doing is not the way I will approach these kinds of problems or essays. Because of the thing that I mentioned earlier, which is that I don't think you should be spending time using other people's words, I think you should spend as much time thinking about your own thoughts, feelings, ideas, and beliefs. And that'll be the basis of your essay, rather than just what they already have to say.

In addition, I think mission statements, especially for these shorter essays can be kind of narrow, and keep you from talking about the academics, the opportunities on campus, the resources that they have available that you want to take advantage of. And it can get kind of nebulous, while still keeping you away from the specifics that you definitely want to get into. So I would not necessarily recommend paraphrasing the mission statement, and then using that as the framework for your essay. But if it's something that really resonates with you, and is really what drives you're interested in the school, feel free to take that approach. But definitely make sure you're demonstrating that that is like the true passion of yours.

Um, please keep the questions coming. And in the meantime, I'm going to give you another poll to answer just so we can continue to collect a little bit of information on what you guys are getting out of this.

What did I discuss in my why Yale essay, like I said, I talked about a campus tradition that was really exciting for me that I could really see myself doing, and how I could envision myself in various places on campus and what that meant for the sense of community, the sense of place. Those sort of about the magic of the environment here at Yale, that I really loved. And it didn't necessarily talk about any specific programs, or academics, it was a very short essay, obviously. And it really narrowed in on this one tradition, and how it spoke to me. So that was where I took this essay. But for other ones, I wrote a lot about my worldview, like, for example, for my university of michigan prompt, I wrote about the like, just for my overarching perspective on life, and how I would make that manifest at the University of Michigan through the programs that were available.

I don't remember it super well, it was five years ago. Um, but that is the kind of tack I took for those longer form essays. What else do we have? What else are we? What else? Are we thinking people? I want to make sure I'm getting all the questions that you have answered. And the less you give me, the more I have to give to you. I'll miss polls. So I'm just going to keep sending them your way. Thank you for your feedback. Absolutely. But um, please give me some more. Give me some more questions to answer.

You know, I'm always going to pull out my failsafe trick, my foolproof trick for getting you guys to ask questions. And that's telling you guys that I'm about to wrap up. Since it doesn't look like there aren't any other questions to be answered. Every time I say the magic words, wrap up three more questions appear in the box. So I am going to There we go. Here it is. How would you approach a 650 word why college essay.

Again, this sort of goes back to that one slide that I had up previously approaching these longer prompts. You can talk more about your worldview and how you're going to bring that to campus. And how campus manifests that already. You can talk about anecdotes that you've had that are have led to the goals that you're trying to achieve through your college education. You can go into more detail about the opportunities and the research and the organizations, whether they're academic or non academic, anything that they have on campus that you're looking to take advantage of. So you just give it a little more detail should just try to keep yourself from being redundant is my best advice. Because that's the danger. Don't talk about the same thing over and over again.

Because that will get kind of boring. And also you have there if you think about it, there are plenty of reasons to go to a school to go to any given school. You just have to put them together into the essay. So That's what I recommend for those longer essay types.

College asked why major what why area of interest? How to Avoid restating activities, but still communicate a passion. So with this question of why major, I this is not necessarily asking you to restate all your activities. But think about what actually draws you to this. So is it you know, you just love a specific sub subheading of it. So not just biology, but you're interested in genetics, you're interested in genomics, you're interested in these, like very small areas of it?

I'll talk about that. Or is there a particular methodology that you're really interested in?

You know, do you really love working with your hands? And that's why engineering is right for you? Or do you really love connecting different fields? And that's why a philosophy or is for you, you know, so what? What is it exactly that draws you to that major? That's going to be really helpful, or communicating a passion without being redundant?

Can you give specific links for the examples used in a slide show? That should be they should be somewhere and the blog post that I typed that I gave you? If not there, it'll be a similar one. They'll just be in the bottom there.

Why school as a college fine. I googled, um, here it is writing a stellar why this college essay, plus examples? Here we go. This is this is another good link for you guys to follow.

There we go. Oops, did did that go to everybody? Yes. Okay. Great. Um, let's see, what is the most important part of the why essay? The most important part of the why essay is showing that you are a good match for the school that you guys go together, it's not just how good they are, or how good you are, but that you are going to be great together. That is the most important part, of course, doing that authentically. And doing it with specificity. That is, if I had to summarize this entire presentation into like, three seconds, that's exactly what I would say.

Um, would you mind sharing what you wrote about for your Common App essay, so Okay, my Common App essay was a little bit cheesy, and that's okay. That's something that I try to tell everybody. Being cheesy is okay, as long as you avoid being cliche. And so it was a series of four anecdotes, followed by a conclusion paragraph. So it's five paragraphs, and each one told a different story. Each story revolved around a different time that I fell over in my life, once when I was three, once when I was seven. And so I was 13, or 14, and ones when I was 17. So some of them were really light hearted and fun.

Others of them were more mature and serious, especially the last one, where I was trying to show that I had grown. And then in my conclusion, paragraph, I tied the stories together, I said, this is, you know, what I've learned from these experiences, this is who they've made me. And even though I keep falling down, I recognize that that's just a part of growth. And I'm not afraid to fall. I am excited to stand back up and keep growing and in college and beyond.

So that was the general thrust of my essay for the CommonApp. Like I said, a kind of a cheesy topic, you know, very, very straightforward metaphor falling down getting back up. But it was something that allowed me to show a lot about what mattered to me and who I was and what experiences had made me the way I am. So it was very personal in that way.

Yeah, do you read essays if we email them to you? Unfortunately, I cannot do that. That's not a service that CollegeVine offers where you just send me your essays and I read them and give feedback, something we do have, we have two resources that I do want to bring your attention to one is a peer feedback tool, where you can put your essay out there for other applicants to read. And you can read other applicants and give feedback and help each other, which is really cool. And it helps you guys fresh set of eyes on it. And we also do live essay reviews. So they're live streams like this, where we'll go through an essay that we get from you guys, and talk about its strengths, and its ways it can grow. And so you'll see some of those under our live streams page as well, if you take a look at that page, there's a whole folder, a playlist that's just live essay reviews, so you can take a look at that.

Yeah, um, one of the questions you guys have now that we have had some more time together?

Um, what does that look like?

All right, I'm gonna give you my last poll, then. I'm just, you know, question about how many colleges you guys are applying to be really cool to get some feedback on that. And I know that we are, you know, at the tail end here. So there we go. Can you give a sample anecdote, um, I, I could give some anecdotes from my life. But the whole point of an anecdote is that is a personal story that has happened to you that maybe you learn something from or that it really exemplifies your way of thinking.

So for example, one of the anecdotes I wrote about in my Common App essay, one of the times I fell down, was the first time and only time that I went ice skating, I grew up in New Jersey playing of ice skating, playing hockey is just something that my family never did until I was approaching High School. And then I was really embarrassed because all my friends and more importantly, my girlfriend at the time, were avid skaters, my girlfriend's whole family loved hockey. And I had never been on the ice before. And I fell over about a million times. And I was so embarrassed, because you know, when you're 14, you are really insecure about that kind of thing. So I spend a lot of time, you know, trying to look busy, like I was in control, and it was very difficult, and I was really stressed about it.

And I know that that was, you know, just a time that I felt really afraid to fall, and something that I had to learn from. So that's one of the anecdotes I used personally. But they should be really personal to you different. It can be literally about anything that taught you a lesson or exemplified a lesson, for example.

Any other questions before we close out the night? Well, in that case, I want to remind you guys that this is, again, a recorded session, so you can find it again in the future if you wanted to. And there are plenty of live streams going on all the time.

So we have plenty coming up this week. And in next couple weeks, so definitely give us some time to cover some more topics that are interesting to you. But since I'm not seeing to any more questions, I'm going to call it a night on this one. And I hope to see you guys next time. Thank you guys so much for all of your excellent questions and for being really participatory here. We're really excited to be able to help you and we hope that way you can do even better in the future.

Undergrad College: Yale University '21

Work Experience: I am a senior at Yale and excited to begin my fifth admissions cycle working with CollegeVine. After four years of working directly with students, I can't wait to engage with the people and the process in new and innovative ways online.

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February 7, 2023

How to Write a ’Why Do You Want to Go to This College’ Essay

Sometimes the prompt is as short as two words: “ Why Tufts? ” Other times, the prompt, like that of Cornell’s , is rather wordy: “Students in Arts and Sciences embrace the opportunity to delve into multifaceted academic interests, embodying in 21st century terms Ezra Cornell’s ’any person…any study’ founding vision. Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College.”

Yet both of these prompts — and so many other college essay prompts — pose the same question: Why do you want to go to this college?

The Top Colleges That Ask “Why College” Essay Prompts

The following top 25 national universities in the 2023 US News & World Report ranking pose “Why College” essays:

Princeton University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
Yale University
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
Duke University
Northwestern University
Dartmouth College
Brown University
Rice University
Cornell University
Columbia University
University of Notre Dame
Georgetown University
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
University of Southern California

The following top 25 liberal arts colleges in the 2023 US News & World Report ranking pose “Why College” essays:

Swarthmore College
Wellesley College
Bowdoin College
Claremont McKenna College
Washington and Lee University
Davidson College
Hamilton College
Barnard College
Colgate University (for the 2022-2023 admissions cycle, essay prompts only appeared after students submitted applications — it was very sneaky of Colgate!)
Haverford College

The Specific “Why College” Essay Prompts for the Top Colleges

Of the top 25 national universities in the 2023 US News & World Report ranking, the following is a breakdown of the specific wording of their “ Why College ” essays, along with the respective word counts:

Of the top 25 liberal arts colleges in the 2023 US News & World Report ranking, the following is a breakdown of the specific wording of their “Why College” essays, along with the respective word counts:

What Colleges Want to See in “Why College” Essay Responses

Admissions officers at America’s elite universities want to see that students have done their homework on the institution they’re applying to. They want to see that the student isn’t just submitting another application for the sake of submitting another application. In fact, so many universities ask “Why College” essay questions because admissions officers seek to admit students who they believe will matriculate. After all, their yield, or the percentage of admitted students who choose to enroll, matters to them.

The Importance of Demonstrated Interest

A great way to shape the yield is by admitting students they think are likely to enroll — or quantifying a student’s Demonstrated Interest . And what’s a good indicator of a student’s Demonstrated Interest? An applicant who cites specific after specific in their “Why College” essay. Likewise, a good indicator that a student has no intention of enrolling or that the college is a backup for the student is a “Why College” essay devoid of specifics.

How to Find Specifics for “Why College” Essays

Students searching for specifics to include in “Why College” essays should zero in on the school’s student newspaper (especially if the newspaper has archives dating back many years), Facebook, Instagram, Google Earth, and more.

If there’s a lecture series a student wishes to write about, chances are there are photos of the talk available on Facebook or Instagram. Students should comb through those photos as well as the captions. By doing so, they’ll be able to include small details, like the fact that it took place in Lowell Lecture Hall.

How to Write a “Why College” Essay

Some students worry that painting a portrait of themselves on the school’s campus is presumptuous since they may not earn admission. But admissions officers know the drill. They know students are painting a portrait of their dream, and admissions officers need to be able to envision you at their school, getting involved in the college’s community.

In addition to citing specific after specific, it’s also important that students write this essay in a conversational tone. College essays should not be formal — they’ll read as too dry. As such, students should aim to avoid beginning sentences with words like “however,” “nevertheless,” and “thus” as much as possible. It’s all about writing colloquially!

The “Why College” essay exercise is ultimately all about showing rather than telling. Telling a college that it’s a student’s first choice isn’t credible since that college knows the student can write that sentence for every school they apply to. But by including specific after specific, by showing rather than telling, they have a better chance of convincing admissions officers of their message.

5 Things Applicants Must Do in “Why College” Essays

Tailor most sentences to the school they’re applying to. If a student can read the sentence aloud and replace the school’s name with another school, and the sentence still works, the student should delete it!
Write about themselves actively engaged on the school’s campus. It’s not an essay just about the student. And it’s not an essay just about the school. It’s the student plus the school.
Cite enduring specifics about a school , like programs, institutes, the school’s culture, traditions, and so much more.
Write only about the school in question. While it may seem obvious, many students compare the school to other institutions. Yikes!
Double-check the accuracy of the specifics cited. Programs end. Activities get eliminated. Make sure all of the specifics mentioned remain timely.

5 Most Common Mistakes in “Why College” Essays

Students cut and paste their “Why College” essays for multiple universities. It’s transparent to admissions officers when students are not tailoring their “Why College” essay to the school they’re applying to. For instance, when a student writes that they want to attend a school because of it’s beautiful campus and engaged student body, admissions officers know full well that they likely used this same sentence for the other schools to which they applied. Instead, every sentence should contain a specific reference that applies only to the school. In a “Why Columbia” essay, if one can replace Columbia with Harvard and the sentence still works, delete it!
Students name-drop professors and classes , thinking those count as specifics. Admissions officers are unlikely to believe a student wishes to attend a university because a specific person works there. Besides, no one likes a name-dropper. And they know students can easily cut and paste class names from one university’s course catalog to the next. In any case, classes change from year to year. Instead, students should endeavor to capture enduring specifics about a university.
Students write about only themselves for vast chunks of “Why College” essays, forgetting to write about the college. The “Why College” essay should be considered a date. If someone speaks about themselves endlessly on a date without asking about the other person, it’s unlikely to end well.
Students cite incorrect specifics about a university. Maybe it’s a leftover from another school’s “Why College” essay, or the student didn’t do their homework. Either way, writing about the D-Plan for Duke or the gorges for Penn will not bode well for a student’s candidacy at these schools.
Students cite specifics in laundry lists. While “Why College” essays should be brimming with specific after specific, it’s important not to include these specifics in a laundry list. Instead of naming one activity after another that a student hopes to participate in, applicants should let each activity breathe. They can do so by citing more minor specifics about the individual activity they’re referencing. In short, don’t just name the activity, but go into detail about that activity.

FAQs About the “Why This College?” Essay

Do applicants need to consult with students at a school to find specifics.

It’s not necessary. All the information you’ll need to find the specifics is available online. You just have to know where to look. For example, if you’re researching the Cornell Speech & Debate Society , go on the group’s Facebook page. Do you see how they recently competed at the Hell Froze Over Tournament in Austin? It’s these very kinds of specifics that showcase a student has done their homework.

Should applicants take extensive notes on college tours and information sessions to use this information in “Why College” essays?

No, because those aren’t the kinds of specifics worthy of including in “Why College” essays. That’s general information about universities offered on tours and info sessions. Instead, students should endeavor to teach admissions officers things they don’t know about their school — not regurgitate the school’s already-existing marketing material.

Is it impossible to find genuine specifics for “Why College” essays?

No, it’s pretty easy. Students simply need to know where to look. Did you know the archives for The Cornell Daily Sun date back to 1880? The stuff one can find out about Cornell in such articles — and the search function makes it relatively easy to navigate!

Does every university care about Demonstrated Interest?

Some universities claim not to care about Demonstrated Interest. For example, Emory University writes on its website, “Demonstrated interest” is not a factor in our application review process. Things have no impact on the evaluation of your application.”

But Emory is the university that created Demonstrated Interest. No matter how loudly or how vociferously Emory tries to argue that they don’t care about Demonstrated Interest, we urge students and parents not to believe Emory’s marketing material . Emory, like all highly selective universities, wants students to apply. As such, they don’t want to do anything to discourage students from applying — like creating barriers such as making it seem like students need to visit the campus to improve their case for admission.

So when a college tells applicants they don’t measure Demonstrated Interest, we urge that message to go in one ear and out the other. Arguably, the only school that doesn’t care about Demonstrated Interest is Harvard College — because Harvard knows students want to go there over just about every other school. Most other universities are insecure, and, as such, they want students to prove they want to go there.

Ivy Coach Helps Students Craft Compelling “Why College” Essays

Helping students craft powerful “Why College” essays that not only wow admissions officers but teach them intel they don’t even know about their school is a big part of what we do. If you’re interested in Ivy Coach ’s assistance, fill out our free consultation form , and we’ll be in touch.

You are permitted to use www.ivycoach.com (including the content of the Blog) for your personal, non-commercial use only. You must not copy, download, print, or otherwise distribute the content on our site without the prior written consent of Ivy Coach, Inc.

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How to write the "Why are you interested in attending our school?" Essay

Many colleges like to know why you are interested in going to their school. What should a student touch on here? How much research needs to be done while constructing answers? What are some responses to avoid?

At the risk of being flippant, let me point how an ill-considered answer can fail to help an applicant:

Colleges near 10,000 foot peaks served by ski lifts know that some students are hoping to ski.
Colleges whose campuses are touched by waves and sand know about sunscreen.
Boston’s colleges know that 10% of the population of the city is made up of students who love being with one another.

Simply put, a useful answer to the frequent question, “Why College U.”, is rarely about geography alone.

Of course, a student with a declared passion for geology might truly want to go where the history of the earth’s crust is visible with the naked eye. That short answer is worthwhile and can be a pleasure for the admissions reader who is bleary-eyed from routine responses.

It is best if the student has already done their research before being faced with this common short answer question. After all, if a student has no good idea why they are applying, the admissions folks might not waste their time and effort on an “Admit” letter. If the student does not already know the reason to apply to a particular college when this question is the next to be answered, it is certainly important to do some research. The answer might lie in the elements of the core curriculum, the presence of “green” initiatives, good access to off-campus arts, or any number of other assets. With a little effort, any student can find elements of an appropriate college that resonate with their history and aspirations.

To make these few words count (some answers are limited to 150 words or 1,000 characters) the student must find something about each college that fits them in a personal way. A useful “Why College U.” answer will reinforce what the reader knows about the applicant from other sections of the admissions file.

Larry is a graduate of Cornell University and the Director of the College Admissions Program at a consulting company. He is a Professional Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), a member of the Higher Education Consultant’s Association (HECA), a member of the New Jersey Association for College Admissions Counseling (NJACAC) and a member of the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

Several years ago, Brown University was featured on several episodes of ‘The O.C.’ Needless to say, its admissions committee was no more impressed with applicants who selected the school for that reason than they were –- or are for that matter –- impressed with applicants who apply simply because Brown is a member of the Ivy League.

Every university seeks to admit an incoming class who genuinely wants to attend that particular school –- not just for the name the college may carry, but for the educational opportunities and resources the school offers. Students really need to take the time to research what makes the school they are applying to special –- for them. They then need to mention those aspects in their applications. This is a key reason why specificity is so important. (The fact that your college education likely represents the largest personal investment you will ever undertake is a completely different topic.)

To simply say, ‘I want to go to X University because of the great academics,’ doesn’t tell the admissions committee much. There are a lot of schools that have strong academic programs and you could go to any one of them. Quite frankly, these schools have worked hard (often over the course of hundreds of years) to clearly differentiate themselves. Selecting a college is a life-altering decision. You owe it to yourself as well as the school to know why attending their particular institution is in your best interests.

When you mention something specific –- for example, what you liked about a certain class or professor (if you have had a chance to sit in on a class), or a notable alum who has the same career track that you aspire to –- your reasons for wanting to attend the school will be more memorable.

Finally, applicants should never write about something they don’t really care about just for the sake of appearing to know the school. The most important thing you can do is to be authentic. College admissions officers can spot a fake a mile away.

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Top 10 Reasons Why Is Education Important

Updated: February 1, 2024

Published: April 15, 2020

Top-10-Reasons-Why-Is-Education-Important

Most of us have grown up being taught the importance of education. But why is education important? Through your frustrating school years, you may have thought that it was a waste of time, or was just something that you needed to do in order to get a job. Truth be told, however, education goes so much beyond just getting a job and making your parents happy. In fact, it’s one of the most powerful tools out there.

What Is Education?

Education means studying in order to obtain a deeper knowledge and understanding of a variety of subjects to be applied to daily life. Education is not limited to just knowledge from books, but can also be obtained through practical experiences outside of the classroom.

Top 10 Reasons: Why Is Education Important?

There are many different understandings and definitions of what education is, but one thing can be universally agreed upon, which is the importance of education — and here’s why.

1. Provides Stability

Education provides stability in life, and it’s something that no one can ever take away from you. By being well-educated and holding a college degree , you increase your chances for better career opportunities and open up new doors for yourself.

2. Provides Financial Security

On top of stability, education also provides financial security, especially in today’s society. A good education tends to lead to a higher paying job, as well as provide you with the skills needed to get there. Educated and well-informed individuals also know how to use money-saving tactics. They are more likely to use coupon websites like EMUCoupon while shopping online to save their hard-earned money.

3. Needed For Equality

In order for the entire world to really become equal, it needs to start with education. If everyone was provided with the same opportunities to education , then there would be less gaps between social classes. Everyone would be able to have an equal chance at higher paying jobs — not just those that are already well-off.

4. Allows For Self-Dependency

The importance of education is evident when it comes to being self-dependent. If we are we educated, then it’s something that belongs to us, and only us, allowing us to rely on no one else other than ourselves. It can allow you to not only be financially independent, but also to make your own choices.

5. Make Your Dreams Come True

If you can dream it, you can achieve it. An education is the most powerful weapon you can possibly have, and with it, you can make all of your dreams come true. There are of course certain exceptions, depending on what you’re aiming for, but generally an education will take you as far as you’re willing to go.

6. A Safer World

Education is something that’s not only needed on a personal level, but also on a global level, as it’s something that keeps our world safe and makes it a more peaceful place. Education tends to teach people the difference between right and wrong, and can help people stay out of risky situations.

7. Confidence

Being self-confident is a major part of being successful in life. And what better way to gain that confidence than with an education? Your level of education is often considered a way to prove your knowledge, and it can give you the confidence to express your opinions and speak your mind.

8. A Part Of Society

In today’s society, having an education is considered a vital part of being accepted by those around you. Having an education is believed to make you a useful part of society, and can make you feel like a contributing member as well.

9. Economic Growth On A National Level

An educated society is crucial for economic growth. We need people to continue to learn and research in order to constantly stay innovative. Countries with higher literacy rates also tend to be in better economic situations. With a more educated population, more employment opportunities are opened.

10. Can Protect You

Education can protect you more than you know, not only on a financial level, but it can help prevent you from being taken advantage of by knowing how to read and write, such as knowing not to sign any bogus documents.

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Education is important for children.

Children are the future of our world, making education crucial for them. Their knowledge is what’s going to keep our world alive and flourishing.

At Childhood

During the childhood development stages, the importance of education is stronger than ever. It’s a time for children to learn social and mental skills that will be crucial for their growth and success in the future. Education at childhood also offers a chance for self-discovery and to learn about their unique interests.

The importance of education in our lives goes far beyond what we can read in a textbook. Education also provides childhood with knowledge such as how to produce artwork and make music. Education allows us to analyze what’s in front of us, and even learn from our mistakes.

Goal Building

By learning from a young age, children are given the chance to start building goals for themselves. Education means having the logic to set your mind to something and achieve it.

Importance Of Education In Society

For a modern society, education is of utmost importance. There are so many influences coming from all directions, and education can help us decipher what we should take as true, and what we should take with a grain of salt. Education can mold people into functional members of society with the right kinds of values.

Productivity

Education is needed for a productive society. Our population only continues to increase, and in turn, so do our needs. We need a strong and efficient workforce of educated people to provide us with the services we need for everyday life.

Why Is Education Important For a Nation?

The importance of education is seen in every aspect of life, and is especially crucial for the growth of a nation.

The Impact Education Has On The World

With education, people can become better citizens, knowing right from wrong, allowing for a better society where laws are followed. An educated nation knows about the importance of voting, doing so with the knowledge not blindly, but also having an understanding of what their party truly stands for. Education can also help people get jobs, which is what a nation thrives on.

Inspiring Quotes On What Education Truly Is

Why is education important, and what is it exactly? While every person has a different understanding of its true meaning, here are some of the most inspiring quotes by some legendary people.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — Nelson Mandela
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” — John Dewey

What Are Some Other Reasons Why Education Is Important?

There are endless reasons why education is so important, especially since it also has endless connotations and meanings.

Mind And Body

Our mind and bodies are connected more than we know. With a powerful, well-educated mind, so too are our bodies.

We can not only know how to best take care of ourselves, but we can feel confident and good about ourselves, which will likely have a positive effect on our physical well-being . Education has even been proven to add years to our life . To be exact, each additional year of education was found to add as much as 1.7 years to our lives at the age of 35.

Personal Growth

The importance of education even extends itself to our personal growth. By constantly educating ourselves, asking questions and wanting to know more, we can move forward and achieve things we never imagined before.

Get To Know Yourself

Education can allow us to get to know ourselves better than ever. We can learn things about ourselves, whether it be through books, courses, or even consulting with a professional.

Photo by Burst from Pexels

Worldwide value.

Education is the best way to ensure a positive world value and view. Without a proper education, how else do we know what’s considered appropriate and how to behave?

While world peace may unfortunately seem like a far-fetched concept, with education we can get closer to this goal than we know. Education can teach us about our place in this world, and about our responsibility to humanity.

Teaches Values

Values are taught through education! Education exists far beyond the classroom or an exam. It’s taught at home, through what our parents and peers show us, and although not necessarily written down somewhere, such a teaching method is still a large aspect of what education entails.

Sharpens Your Thinking

Education is needed to think sharply and clearly!

Makes You Informed

Education makes you informed about the world around you, what’s going on and what kind of people are around you. Education can help you be more self-aware about your strengths and weaknesses, showing you were to shift your focus.

Logical Reasoning

When in an argument, if you aren’t well educated and don’t have your facts straight, then you aren’t likely to win. If you get upset about something, then being educated can also help you logically work through the situation and make sense of it, understanding all aspects.

Stay Focused

Education can help you stay focused and on track in the right direction by knowing what the right path is for you.

Allows For Innovation And Creativity

When it comes to being creative, in any way, shape, or form, the mind can only really reach its full potential if it’s been fed with the knowledge it needs to think outside the box.

Develop Life Skills

Education is the foundation of basic life skills and street smarts. While education might sound like a fancy technical term, it’s really everything we learn in life about how to best conduct ourselves from day to day.

Education can be the most freeing and empowering thing in the entire world!

Live Life To The Fullest

Truly living life to the fullest means being well-educated and holding a vast amount of knowledge about the world around us. It also means we continue to learn every day in all kinds of forms, whether it be from the people around us, newspapers, experiences, research, or traditional classes.

Breaks Barriers

Education breaks barriers between people, and allows people from across the globe to be empowered.

University of the People, a tuition-free , online university, is one powerful example of how education is being revolutionized – they offer students of all socio-economic backgrounds an equal chance at education.

Once upon a time, such a thing wouldn’t have been possible, but today such places like UoPeople have proven that these barriers truly can be broken through to receive higher education.

You Become Your Highest You

Education can allow you to become the best, fullest version of yourself, learning about what interests you, what you’re good at, becoming self-aware and conscious about the world around you. It can help you establish your place in this world, and feel complete.

Education In The Modern World

Education today is more important than ever before, and has reached new heights with new understandings of what it truly entails. Ask yourself “Why is education important?” and it will surely not be the same as anyone else’s answer.

While in modern society, holding a college degree is considered to be highly beneficial for a successful career and to be socially accepted, it is not the only means of education. Education is all around us in everything that we do, so use it wisely!

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Argumentative Essay: The Benefits of Going to School

Many young people see going to school as a chore and only go because they absolutely have to, while some will even skip school because they see it as boring and unnecessary. However, going to school is incredibly important for your career, future education you may wish to pursue, and social and communication skills.

Teenagers are forever being told that they need a good education so that their can have the career they want, but many do not listen. However, it is important to remember that your schooling, no matter how long it may feel, lasts for a just a few short years compared to the rest of your life ahead of you. Therefore, it is better to sacrifice a little bit of fun now so that you can find happiness in later life, as you will be happier if you can do a job that you enjoy and afford to do the things you want.

Integrally linked to your career is the fact that you will only be able to achieve a higher level of education later on if you work hard in school now. Although at the age of fourteen and fifteen many young people may not think they want to go to college or university, you don’t know how this may change as you get older. And with unemployment among young people in the USA at its highest since the early 1960’s, you may find that you need a college degree to secure a good job because there is so much competition for so few jobs. Many people also decide that they want to study further when they get a bit older, perhaps after they have got married and had children, sometimes because they want a career change as they are not happy, or just to prove to themselves and others that they can do it. Those that don’t succeed in compulsory education will not have the opportunity to even start many courses because there will be plenty of better-qualified candidates that also want a place.

Finally, school is the place where you learn a great deal of very important life skills. From communicating and empathizing with people of both genders and different ages, to listening to instructions and following orders, and developing leadership skills. It is not a coincidence that there is a negative correlation between criminal offences and level of education, in all races, ages and genders all over the world, and one of the main reasons for this is that the lessons that are learnt in school are so much more than just academic. So, although most of us only consider our career when we think about what school may do for us, the life skills we learn are equally important.

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College Essays

For students applying to Yale, the "Why Yale" essay may seem straightforward, but it can also be very intimidating due to its low word-count limit and the specific nature of the prompt.

You might be wondering what you can write to make sure your application stands out from the crowd...and gets you accepted!

In this article, we're going to:

Break down the "Why Yale" essay
Explain what the university is looking for in your response
Suggest topics to write about that'll help you make an impact
Give a "Why Yale Essay" sample to get inspiration from another student's answer

So let's dive in!

The "Why Yale" Essay Prompt

What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer)

Wow! This is a short essay prompt. You might be wondering what you can possibly write about to stand out from other applicants with such a brief assignment.

For instance, you may be thinking that everyone applies to Yale for the same reason: the school's stellar academic reputation.

While that's undoubtedly true, the admissions committee already knows that Yale is a great university. The admissions committee wants to know why you'd rather go to Yale than any of the other Ivy League universities or other top schools in the world.

What Is the Purpose of the "Why Yale" Essay?

Why do schools like Yale require you to answer a " why this school " essay?

No matter which schools you're applying to, this type of prompt is one of the most common that you'll see on your college applications.

Why? Because colleges want to see that you really want to attend their school. Students who love their school are more likely to be active and happy students—and later, active and happy alumni.

In short: your essay should show the admissions committee that you really love Yale, which will make them feel more confident that you'll be a great addition to the campus.

Because the " why this college " type of essay is common, it might be tempting to recycle one you wrote for a different school and plug it into your Yale application. That's not a good idea!

If your essay is generic or nonspecific to Yale, the admissions committee will worry that you're not invested in going to Yale. They may even think that you don't care about getting into Yale, which could cause them to pass over your application in favor of another student who really wants to attend Yale. The admissions committee wants to accept students who will attend Yale the next year.

Basically, Yale wants to make sure you know and value what they offer, and they also want to assess how you'll take advantage of the many opportunities on Yale's campus to further your academic and professional career.

What Should You Write About in Your "Why Yale" Essay?

Yale might be best known for its academics but there are many features of the university that you can talk about for your essay. Here's a list of potential topics:

Majors or classes you're especially interested in
Professors whose work you admire and whom you'd like to study with or conduct research with
Extracurriculars that you'd be interesting in joining
Research opportunities you'd like to have
Current and past Yale students you've met who you admire
Volunteer opportunities
Professional opportunities
Campus life

You should make sure that the points you choose are unique to Yale itself. For instance, Yale's residential college system is very unique and creates a different campus life experience than most universities. Talking about how you appreciate that feature of Yale's campus will show that you have done your research and like Yale's unique features.

No matter which topic you choose, you should be sure to connect it back to your own interests.

For instance, if you talk about a professor whose work you admire, describe how studying under that professor will help your academic career.

Your answer to this prompt must be specific ; you can't just say that you are intrigued by Yale's stellar faculty. You need to give examples of which faculty members you want to learn from. Focus on your chosen feature of Yale, how it relates to you as a student and person, and how Yale can help you achieve your future goals.

Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions combines world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've guided thousands of students to get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit and are driven to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in:

Tips for a Great Response to the Why Yale Essay

Regardless of how you decide to answer this prompt, there are four tips everyone should keep in mind to make sure they're fully answering the question, giving the information Yale wants to see, and making sure they stand out from other applicants.

#1: Do Your Research

Before you begin writing your response to this essay prompt, you should know exactly why you want to attend Yale. There are multiple ways to do this research. You can check out the school website or course catalog . You could also schedule a campus visit, meet with an alum or current student, or chat with a Yale professor.

#2: Be Specific

From your research, you should have come up with specific reasons why Yale is a great school for you. The more specific you can be when answering this prompt, the better.

Don't say Yale has great academics, caring professors, and an interesting student body. The vast majority of schools have that.

Instead, try to mention opportunities only Yale can provide , like specific professors, course names, extracurriculars, or research opportunities.

#3: Show Your Passion

Yale wants students who care a lot about their studies and their school, so make sure this comes across in their response. A bland statement like, "I am impressed by Yale's drama program" doesn't tell the school anything about you or help you stand out from other applicants.

You've done your research so you can mention specific qualities of Yale that have enticed you, and now you need to discuss specific qualities about yourself as well. Why does the drama program make you so excited? What do you want to get out of it? Be detailed, specific and honest.

Showing a passion that's unique to you will help differentiate you from other applicants and show Yale that you're going to take your studies seriously.

#4: Proofread

Your Yale essay should be the strongest example of your work possible. Before you turn in your application, make sure to edit and proofread your essays.

Your work should be free of spelling and grammar errors. Make sure to run your essays through a spelling and grammar check before you submit.

It's a good idea to have someone else read your "Why Yale" essay, too. You can seek a second opinion on your work from a parent, teacher, or friend. Ask them if your work represents you as a student and person . Have them check and make sure you haven't missed any small writing errors. Having a second opinion will help your work be the best it possibly can be.

"Why Yale" Essay Sample and Reasons Why It Works

To help you get a better idea of what a great response to this prompt can look like, below is a "Why Yale" essay sample that we wrote. We'll also explain what makes it an excellent response.

The first song I could sing was Puccini's "O mio babbino Caro." I don't think that my mother realized she was sparking a love for opera by teaching me a party trick. That love has grown into a driving ambition and a door into my favorite areas of study: history, drama, language, and music. As a college student, I have always hoped to combine all of these fields.

While visiting Yale, I took a voice lesson from a mezzo soprano from the School of Music. She told me about how she studied Roman and Greek literature, leading her to specialize in baroque opera. Her inclusive approach to her craft inspired me and let me know that I can do the same at Yale. I cannot imagine giving up the study of language and history in favor of music, and at Yale I wouldn't have to.

Let's take a look at what makes this "Why Yale" essay work well.

#1: Answers the Prompt Specifically

This essay gives examples of personal experience with the school and reveals an applicant who did their research. The applicant is clearly interested in the music program at Yale, since he or she has taken a lesson with a student and talked with the student about their experience.

#2: Gives Details About a Program

The applicant's essay illustrates that they know the subjects they want to study at Yale: music, language, and history. They also show that they took the initiative to seek out a current vocal student to assess the kind of skills that could be gained by Yale's program.

#3: Shows Where the Applicant Fits In

It's clear from reading this essay where the author sees him or herself at Yale. They've shown that Yale has opportunities they want to take part in and contribute to, and they tie this into their academic goals for the future.

#4: Shows Interaction With Current Students

The applicant's experience with a current student is the main feature of this essay. It shows that the student had the foresight to take a lesson with someone who was a product of the school's undergraduate music program, and the evidence that she collected to support her goal of finding a school that wouldn't limit her learning experience to music alone.

Recap: Writing a Great "Why Yale" Essay

Your "Why Yale" essay can help give the admissions teams a good idea of why Yale is a great fit for you. The purpose of this essay prompt is for you to show Yale that you've done research on their school, feel it's a good fit for you , and already know some of the opportunities at the school you want to make the most of.

In your Yale essay, you can write about multiple topics, including academics, the student body, extracurriculars, and research opportunities. When writing your essay for this prompt, be sure to do lots of research on the school, be specific, show your passion, and mention plans you have for the future. Looking at "Why Yale" essay examples can also help, though they are hard to find.

What's Next?

Getting into college requires a strong application, including SAT/ACT scores. Wondering how high of an SAT score or ACT score do you need to get into your top colleges?

Worried about paying for college? Here's a complete guide to figuring out how much college will cost for you .

Know exactly what you want to study in college? Check out some of our best-of-specialty-school lists, including the best film schools , best video game design schools , best journalism schools , and best creative writing schools .

Want to write the perfect college application essay? We can help. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will help you craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay to proudly submit to colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now:

Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females.

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15 Reason Why School Is Important

People take school for granted in some places. There’s no question about whether a kid will attend because school is accessible and valued. Kids may even feel annoyed or frustrated that they’re made to go. In many countries, however, school is a privilege. Why does school matter so much? Here are 15 reasons why:

#1. Schools teach social skills

For most kids, school is the first setting where they learn to socialize with others outside their family. They learn to make friends, listen to teachers, and work through problems. Learning these social skills early on gives kids an important foundation for their interactions in society. Studies show education can increase what’s called “learned effectiveness,” which includes traits like self-control and cognitive ability. Students also learn “soft skills” like good communication, teamwork, and flexibility. Going to school doesn’t automatically teach social skills; it’s still the responsibility of teachers and other adults to encourage healthy socialization. When they spot unhealthy socialization – like bullying – they should intervene appropriately.

#2. Schools can teach empathy

Empathy, which is the ability to understand another person’s feelings and experiences, is one of the most essential “soft skills” a person can have. Schools can be the perfect environment for teaching this to kids starting at a young age. They’re learning to interact with other people, understand different perspectives, and develop good communication skills. Teachers can teach empathy by modeling it, talking about emotions, encouraging community activities, and integrating listening activities into classwork.

#3. Schools help young people build confidence

Being self-assured and confident in one’s abilities is crucial to healthy self-esteem. People who don’t have much confidence are more likely to be taken advantage of and struggle with anxiety. In a school setting, kids get the opportunity to build their confidence early on. As they learn to read, write, solve math problems, and more, their confidence in their abilities increases. A teacher plays a very important role in this. It’s their job to celebrate a student’s progress as well as their hard work, as many struggle with certain subjects.

#4. Schools encourage critical thinking

Critical thinking is an essential part of any subject in school. Whether they’re studying literature, science , or history, students can develop critical thinking techniques. They use these to absorb the material, form their own ideas, and express themselves in writing and speaking. These skills translate to every area of life, whether it’s in academia, the work setting, or relationships. How do schools teach critical thinking ? It needs to be intentional or schools run the risk of just teaching kids how to memorize facts. Teachers can improve their students’ critical thinking skills by asking open-ended questions, encouraging students to think for themselves, presenting real-life problems, and encouraging interaction between students.

#5. Schools teach the value of the learning process

It’s not unusual for students to question the point of any given topic at school. “When am I ever going to use the Pythagorean theorem?” they might ask. “Who cares what happened two hundred years ago?” While a student will probably not use a specific math formula in their daily life, the process of learning is what matters. Good schools teach kids the value of learning for its own sake. It trains the brain how to focus, analyze, and remember. In the future, that training kicks in when you need to learn something new or solve a challenging problem.

#6. Schools help young people develop future goals

School introduces students to a wide variety of subjects. More often than not, a student connects with certain topics on a deep level. Whether it’s through a research paper or group project, they get opportunities to explore their interests further. Students consider what they want their career to be and develop goals for the future. With support from teachers, any student can see what’s possible and work towards their passions.

#7. Students benefit from school extracurriculars

Schools are more than just classrooms. Many also offer sports , clubs, and other extracurricular activities. Some of these can lead to scholarships, which give students access to higher education. Even if a student doesn’t thrive in a classroom setting, they can find something else at their school that benefits them. Do extracurriculars help with academic achievement? It depends. One study found that it depends on factors like parental educational level, age, and sex. In early adolescence, girls who participated in extracurriculars saw improved academic achievements, but in later adolescence, it was better if they didn’t participate in as many extracurriculars. This could be because schoolwork becomes more challenging and time-consuming. Some students will need fewer distractions to do well, but others will be fine with extracurriculars. It depends on the specific student.

#8. Schools strengthen communities

School can become an important source of community for many students. For some, it may be the only place they feel safe to be themselves. For students, feeling like they belong and are part of something bigger than themselves is very important. They’ll feel supported and encouraged, and even when they leave school, they’ll strive to find and build community wherever they go. School can also serve as a community space for parents, so it benefits whole families.

#9. Education reduces poverty

Education is an essential part of reducing poverty around the world. When children receive an education, they’re able to access jobs with higher incomes. Other factors (like gender) impact what kind of a job someone can get, but it’s generally true that as a person gets more schooling, their income potential goes up. That benefits their whole families and can end cycles of generational poverty. According to a UNESCO policy paper , around 60 million people could escape poverty if all adults got just two extra years of schooling. If all adults finished secondary education, it would lift 420 million people out of poverty. If a country wants to reduce poverty, it needs to invest in schools.

#10. School is good for gender equality

In addition to reducing poverty, education combats gender inequality. In many places, girls receive less education than boys. This affects the jobs they can get and makes them more vulnerable to poverty, violence, and exploitation. According to the World Bank , limiting girls’ education costs them between $15-$30 trillion in lost lifetime productivity and earnings. When they go to school, girls increase their income potential and safety. Research also shows that in countries that value education, maternal death rates go down. There’s been significant progress in education; the gender educational gap is less than 1% . However, there are regional pockets where inequality is still a major issue. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 1 in 4 young women can’t read or write. The impacts of COVID are still being analyzed, but it’s likely that girls’ education was negatively affected. Schooling for girls will need to be a priority for pandemic recovery.

#11. Education is linked to better health

Education (or lack of education) has long-term consequences for a person’s life. When someone gets good schooling, they’re more likely to earn a good income. They’re also more likely to get a job with fewer physical risks. Combine safety with higher wages and better health follows. On the other side of things, research shows when someone doesn’t get a good education, they’re more vulnerable to health issues. They may also be less likely to see a doctor (because they can’t afford it) and less familiar with good health information. This makes education not only an economic issue but a public health one. Countries need to invest in good schools if they want to ensure a healthy society.

#12. More education can lead to less stress

More education leads to better-paying jobs. Not shockingly, having a higher income makes life less stressful. This is important because stress is linked to serious mental and physical health issues. According to a report from the American Psychological Association , people with low incomes experience higher stress levels, which plays into disparities that affect life expectancy. A good education and a higher-paying job could help reduce some of that stress. That doesn’t mean going to school is naturally stress-free. Reports consistently show college students experience high levels of stress and burnout. Schools need to protect the mental health of their students, so they can finish their education and get access to higher incomes.

#13. A mother’s education impacts her children

Parents obviously have a big impact on their kids, but research shows the relationship between moms and kids could be unique. According to one study on maternal education in the US and UK, maternal education is “most strongly associated with children’s cognitive development.” It’s also a key predictor of other resources that affect a kid’s well-being. The more educated a mother is, the better her kids do. That affects a kid’s educational achievements and even their health. School doesn’t just affect individuals; it’s generational.

#14. Schools can address (or reinforce) societal inequality

Schools, especially public schools, can be diverse spaces where kids meet people who are different from them, learn to work together, build deep emotional connections, and get equal opportunities. These are key ingredients in addressing inequality, but schools can also reinforce inequality. How? Funding is a good example. In the United States, the districts with the most Black, Latino, and Native students can receive $2,700 less per student than districts with the fewest students of color. High-poverty districts, despite needing more funds, receive about 5% less than low-poverty districts. Instead of improving equality, this type of discrimination in schools makes it worse.

#15. Good education benefits entire countries

Schools benefit individuals and communities, so it makes sense that a whole country will do better when they have good schools. Starting from a young age, citizens receive the education they need to get higher-paying jobs. This creates a society of skilled workers and boosts the economy. An educated society is also a healthier society, and when people benefit from schools, they’re more likely to invest resources back into schools for the next generation. Agencies like the World Bank recognize the importance of education for a country’s economic development.

Why do kids have to go to school?

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Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected] .

Why do us kids have to go to school? – Vanessa C., age 10, Gilbert, Arizona

Kids go to school for many reasons. Where and when depends on their age, location, parental preference and local policies. Parents send their kids to school to expose them to experiences that are different from their own at home and in their communities. Schools are designed to provide spaces for exploration, self-awareness and connection with other kids. Teachers encourage kids to strengthen the skills they have and help them gain new ones as they advance from grade to grade.

I have spent the last 20 years studying and working with children from birth to 21 years of age in a variety of settings. I often think about how to create the best learning environment for children, beginning with preschool. To me, that means ensuring that all children have the opportunity to be in a school that can fulfill their learning needs as well as their physical, social and emotional well-being at all stages of their lives.

Around 61% of 3-to-5-year-olds in the U.S. are enrolled in some type of preschool. Because these are critical years for brain development , attending a high-quality learning program is essential.

What makes a good program for young children? Since children learn through play, it’s important for play to be the focus of most activities . It’s also essential for teachers to interact with their young students and respond to each child’s needs .

During this important developmental stage, children also form a sense of self . For example, they might start to think of themselves as a big brother or sister if there’s another child at home. They also begin to connect more deeply with others, learn to communicate their feelings, practice sharing and more. When schools include children’s identity, cultural norms and traditions in the classroom, students feel a sense of belonging and inclusion. This helps children form associations that are important for learning.

Elementary school

Children entering kindergarten at age 5 or 6 can have many different feelings, including nervousness and excitement for this new experience . Perhaps kids have heard adults say that starting kindergarten is the start of “real learning.” But this isn’t the case; kids learn from the day they are born .

With the transition to kindergarten, kids begin to work on personal and social skills, like managing their behaviors and reactions, problem-solving and logical thinking. Kids’ early experiences expand their ideas of how the world works. And as they mature they become better able to understand more complex thought processes , like reversibility, or water turning to ice and then back to water. Another concept they may start to explore is how matter takes the shape of the space it occupies, like sand filling a star-shaped container, and why that happens.

As students advance through elementary school, their reading and comprehension skills improve and they are able to use different resources – from reading books and watching documentaries to taking trips to the museum – to help them understand ideas they encounter inside and outside of the classroom. The education students receive in school further builds on these experiences.

Middle school

During the middle school years, when students are typically between 10 and 13 years old, kids and parents are both starting to interact with school in different ways. Teachers increasingly give more responsibilities to students, and they try their best to personalize what happens in the classroom to students’ talents and strengths.

As students become increasingly independent, parents often pass on more school-related responsibilities to them. Students feel capable and competent when their environment supports who they are and encourages them to apply their existing skills at all levels, but especially in middle school.

Understanding all of the challenges kids are going through – like fitting in, maintaining friendships, puberty and others – can be overwhelming. But middle school also offers opportunities for students to sharpen their skills and talents. Some schools may offer band, theater or robotics and other new opportunities to learn, play and grow alongside their daily studies.

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High school

High school is an exciting time for most students because it’s the final gateway to adulthood. Students may take on a heavier academic and extracurricular load as a way to prepare for higher education . In high school, students are able to choose from a range of courses that may include journalism, biology, an advanced foreign language class or world history. At the same time, students may begin taking part in specialized activities like volunteering or trips abroad that could expose them to fields they’d like to study if they choose to continue to college.

The core principle of education is to enable students to become kind, giving and contributing members of their community and the world. While not all students have the opportunity to attend great schools because of unequal circumstances, it is critical all children are afforded education, at home or at school, public or private. Schools are a tried-and-true place where kids gain new skills and knowledge that they continue to use and build on for the rest of their lives.

Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to [email protected] . Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.

And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

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5 strategies to unlock your winning college essay.

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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 29: People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard ... [+] University campus on June 29, 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admission policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina violate the Constitution, bringing an end to affirmative action in higher education. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

The college application season is upon us, and high school students everywhere are staring down at one of the most daunting tasks: the college essay. As someone who has guided countless applicants through the admissions process and reviewed admissions essays on an undergraduate admissions committee, I've pinpointed the essential ingredient to a differentiated candidacy—the core of your college admissions X-factor .

The essential ingredient to your college admissions X-factor is your intellectual vitality. Intellectual vitality is your passion for learning and curiosity. By demonstrating and conveying this passion, you can transform an average essay into a compelling narrative that boosts your chances of getting accepted to your top schools. Here are five dynamic strategies to achieve that goal.

Unleash Your Authentic Voice

Admissions officers sift through thousands of essays every year. What stops them in their tracks? An authentic voice that leaps off the page. Forget trying to guess what the admissions committee wants to hear. Focus on being true to yourself. Share your unique perspective, your passions, and your values. Authenticity resonates deeply with application reviewers, making your essay memorable and impactful. You need not have experienced trauma or tragedy to create a strong narrative. You can write about what you know—intellectually or personally—to convey your enthusiasm, creativity, and leadership. Intellectual vitality shines through when you write with personalized reflection about what lights you up.

Weave A Captivating Story

Everyone loves a good story, and your essay is the perfect place to tell yours. The Common Application personal statement has seven choices of prompts to ground the structure for your narrative. The most compelling stories are often about the smallest moments in life, whether it’s shopping at Costco or about why you wear socks that have holes. Think of the Common Application personal statement as a window into your soul rather than a dry list of your achievements or your overly broad event-based life story. Use vivid anecdotes to bring your experiences to life. A well-told story can showcase your growth, highlight your character, and illustrate how you've overcome challenges. Intellectual vitality often emerges in these narratives, revealing how your curiosity and proactive approach to learning have driven you to explore and innovate.

Reflect And Reveal Insights

It's not just about what you've done—it's about what you've learned along the way. When you are writing about a specific event, you can use the STAR framework—situation, task, action, and result (your learning). Focus most of your writing space on the “R” part of this framework to dive deeply into your experiences and reflect on how they've shaped your aspirations and identity.

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New android warning shows why iphone is impossible to beat, nsa warns iphone and android users to turn it off and on again.

The most insightful college-specific supplement essays demonstrate depth of thought, and the ability to connect past experiences with your future life in college and beyond. Reflecting on your intellectual journey signals maturity and a readiness to embrace the college experience. It shows admissions officers that you engage deeply with your studies and are eager to contribute to the academic community.

Highlight Your Contributions—But Don’t Brag

Whether it's a special talent, an unusual hobby, or a unique perspective, showcasing what you can bring to the college environment can make a significant impact. Recognize that the hard work behind the accomplishment is what colleges are interested in learning more about—not retelling about the accomplishment itself. (Honors and activities can be conveyed in another section of the application.) Walk us through the journey to your summit; don’t just take us to the peak and expect us know how you earned it.

Intellectual vitality can be demonstrated through your proactive approach to solving problems, starting new projects, or leading initiatives that reflect your passion for learning and growth. These experiences often have a place in the college-specific supplement essays. They ground the reasons why you want to study in your major and at the particular college.

Perfect Your Prose

Great writing is essential. Anyone can use AI or a thesaurus to assist with an essay, but AI cannot write your story in the way that you tell it. Admissions officers don’t give out extra credit for choosing the longest words with the most amount of syllables.

The best essays have clear, coherent language and are free of errors. The story is clearly and specifically told. After drafting, take the time to revise and polish your writing. Seek feedback from teachers, mentors, or trusted friends, but ensure the final piece is unmistakably yours. A well-crafted essay showcases your diligence and attention to detail—qualities that admissions officers highly value. Intellectual vitality is also reflected in your writing process, showing your commitment to excellence and your enthusiasm for presenting your best self.

Crafting a standout college essay is about presenting your true self in an engaging, reflective, and polished manner while showcasing your intellectual vitality. Happy writing.

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“This is long from over,” Donald J. Trump, the former president and current felon, declared on Thursday, moments after a Manhattan jury convicted him on 34 counts of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal.

Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is banking on the jury not having the final word on the case. He has already outlined a plan to appeal a verdict that on Friday he labeled “a scam.”

But even if the former — and possibly future — president could persuade voters to ignore his conviction, the appellate courts might not be so sympathetic. Several legal experts cast doubt on his chances of success, and noted that the case could take years to snake through the courts, all but ensuring he will still be a felon when voters head to the polls in November.

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The Trump Manhattan Criminal Verdict, Count By Count

Former President Donald J. Trump faced 34 felony charges of falsifying business records, related to the reimbursement of hush money paid to the porn star Stormy Daniels in order to cover up a sex scandal around the 2016 presidential election.

The former president’s supporters are calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, though that is highly unlikely. In a more likely appeal to a New York court, Mr. Trump would have avenues to attack the conviction, the experts said, but far fewer than he has claimed. The experts noted that the judge whose rulings helped shape the case stripped some of the prosecution’s most precarious arguments and evidence from the trial.

The appeal will be a referendum on the judge, Juan M. Merchan, who steered the trial through political and legal minefields even as Mr. Trump hurled invective at him and his family. Justice Merchan, a no-nonsense former prosecutor, said that he was keenly aware “and protective of” Mr. Trump’s rights, including his right to “defend himself against political attacks.”

Mark Zauderer, a veteran New York litigator who sits on a committee that screens applicants for the same court that will hear Mr. Trump’s appeal, said that Justice Merchan avoided pitfalls that often doom convictions.

“This case has none of the usual red flags for reversal on appeal,” Mr. Zauderer said. “The judge’s demeanor was flawless.”

Even if Justice Merchan’s rulings provide little fodder, Mr. Trump could challenge the foundation of the prosecution’s case. Mr. Trump’s lawyers note that Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, used a novel theory to charge Mr. Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

In New York, that crime is a misdemeanor, unless the records were faked to conceal another crime. To elevate the charges to felonies, Mr. Bragg argued that Mr. Trump had falsified the records to cover up violations of a little-known state law against conspiring to win an election by “unlawful means.”

Mr. Trump’s conspiracy occurred during his first run for the White House. When Mr. Trump arranged to buy and bury damaging stories about his sex life, including a porn star’s story of a tryst, he was trying to influence the 2016 election, Mr. Bragg said.

In an appeal, Mr. Trump’s lawyers are expected to argue that Mr. Bragg inappropriately stretched the state election law — a convoluted one, at that — to cover a federal campaign. And they could claim that the false records law itself does not apply to Mr. Trump’s case.

“I certainly don’t think there has been a prosecution of falsifying business records like this one,” said Barry Kamins, a retired judge and expert on criminal procedure who teaches at Brooklyn Law School. “This is all uncharted territory, as far as an appellate issue.”

None of this criticism will surprise Mr. Bragg, a career prosecutor who has shown himself to be comfortable with innovative applications of law. Mr. Bragg’s head of appeals, Steven Wu, a fast-talking, Yale-trained litigator, attended much of the trial. When the verdict was read, he was sitting in the second row, to Mr. Bragg’s right.

It is now Mr. Wu’s job to ensure that Mr. Trump does not escape his conviction.

Over a lifetime spent in legal gray areas, Mr. Trump has developed a knack for delaying or dodging criminal consequences. Just as law enforcement authorities would appear to close in on him, and his adversaries assumed he was on the ropes, Mr. Trump would prevail.

In his four years as president, Mr. Trump survived two impeachments, a federal investigation and a special counsel inquiry. In his post-presidential life, he has been indicted four times in four different cities, but three of those cases are mired in delays, thanks in part to the U.S. Supreme Court.

He was, to foes and friends alike, “Teflon Don.”

But now, just like every other criminal defendant in New York, the deck is stacked against him. Appeals courts typically frown upon overturning jury decisions, barring some glaring error or misconduct.

Justice Merchan will sentence Mr. Trump on July 11, just days before he attends the Republican National Convention to be anointed as the party’s presidential nominee. The judge could sentence him to as long as four years in prison, or impose only probation.

The sentencing will start a 30-day clock for Mr. Trump to file a notice of appeal. That notice is just a legal stake in the ground. Mr. Trump will then have to mount the actual appeal at the New York State’s Appellate Division, First Department. The panel of appellate court judges most likely would not hear arguments until next year, and might not issue a decision until early 2026.

And that won’t necessarily be the final say. Mr. Trump or Mr. Bragg’s office could ask the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, to review the decision.

Mr. Trump might also have a final option: the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Trump, who already tried and failed to move the case to federal court, could try again if he were elected.

It would be a long shot. Procedurally, it is exceedingly difficult for a state defendant to reach the Supreme Court without exhausting state appeals.

“This is a garden-variety state court conviction,” Mr. Zauderer said. “I don't see a plausible path to the Supreme Court.”

Yet the court has appeared sympathetic to Mr. Trump in one of his other criminal cases. And in an appearance on Fox News on Friday, the Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, argued that the justices should take up Mr. Trump’s cause .

“I think that the justices on the court — I know many of them personally — I think they’re deeply concerned,” said Mr. Johnson, a Trump ally. “I think they’ll set this straight, but it’s going to take a while.”

At his news conference at Trump Tower on Friday, Mr. Trump outlined a blueprint for his appeal, airing a litany of grievances about Justice Merchan , whom he called “a tyrant.”

“He wouldn’t allow us to have witnesses or have us talk or allow us to do anything,” Mr. Trump claimed, adding that witnesses were “literally crucified by this man who looks like an angel, but he’s really a devil.”

Those accusations were false. Justice Merchan did not prohibit Mr. Trump from calling witnesses, though he did limit the testimony of a defense expert who was set to testify about election law but ultimately never took the stand. (Justice Merchan determined that the expert’s testimony about the law would intrude on the judge’s own responsibility.)

Mr. Trump also claimed that Justice Merchan effectively prevented him from testifying in his own defense. The judge, he said, would have allowed prosecutors to question him about his past legal troubles, and “everything that I was ever involved in.”

That was a significant exaggeration.

Defendants routinely premise appeals on a judge’s decision about how much prosecutors may cross-examine them. They also often argue that judges have allowed evidence beyond the scope of the charges. But Justice Merchan refused to let the prosecution enter a variety of damaging evidence about Mr. Trump, including accusations that he sexually assaulted women.

Both of those issues were at the heart of the Court of Appeals’s recent decision to overturn the sex crimes conviction of Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood producer. Yet Mr. Kamins, who was one of the lawyers who handled Mr. Weinstein’s appeal, said they would not carry the day for Mr. Trump.

Justice Merchan, who began every trial day with a “good morning” for Mr. Trump, did occasionally scold him for misbehaving in the courtroom, or violating a gag order that barred attacks on witnesses and jurors. But the judge did so outside the presence of the jurors.

When the porn star, Stormy Daniels, was on the stand, and Mr. Trump muttered “bullshit,” the judge waited for the jury to leave before summoning a defense lawyer to the bench. “I am speaking to you here at the bench because I don’t want to embarrass him,” the judge told Mr. Trump’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche.

Justice Merchan bent over backward when Mr. Trump repeatedly violated the gag order.

“Mr. Trump, it’s important to understand that the last thing I want to do is to put you in jail,” he said. “You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president.”

Justice Merchan also reined in the prosecution’s efforts to lower the legal bar for convicting Mr. Trump. In his instructions to the jury about how to apply the law to Mr. Trump’s case, the judge refused to include suggestions from prosecutors that would have made a conviction all but certain.

Still, no judge is perfect. At times during the trial, Justice Merchan appeared to lose his temper, castigating the defense for arguments he saw as frivolous or repetitive.

And Mr. Trump’s lawyers are expected to challenge Justice Merchan’s decisions to keep the trial in Manhattan, where the former president is deeply unpopular, and to bless Mr. Bragg’s theory of the case.

The law required Mr. Bragg to show that Mr. Trump caused a false entry in the records of “an enterprise.” Mr. Trump’s lawyers might argue that no such enterprise was involved. The documents, they believe, belonged to Mr. Trump personally, not his company.

The second crime — the election law conspiracy — provides another possible avenue for Mr. Trump’s lawyers. The legal theory underpinning the prosecution included not only untested law, but a complex combination of statutes, one tucked inside another like Russian nesting dolls.

This theory required Justice Merchan to provide the jury with byzantine legal instructions.

“The more complex the jury instructions, the more likely they are to bear appellate issues,” said Nathaniel Z. Marmur, a New York appellate lawyer. “And these are some of the most complex instructions one could imagine.”

Long before the appeal is decided, Mr. Trump’s political fate will have been set. In the single day since the jury convicted him, campaign donations have poured into his coffers, and Mr. Trump cast Election Day as the “real verdict.”

His opponent, President Biden, said that the conviction alone would not thwart a Trump presidency .

“There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box,” he said.

Ben Protess is an investigative reporter at The Times, writing about public corruption. He has been covering the various criminal investigations into former President Trump and his allies. More about Ben Protess

William K. Rashbaum is a Times reporter covering municipal and political corruption, the courts and broader law enforcement topics in New York. More about William K. Rashbaum

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

Guilty Verdict : Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his bid for the White House in 2016, making him the first American president to be declared a felon .

What Happens Next: Trump’s sentencing hearing on July 11 will trigger a long and winding appeals process , though he has few ways to overturn the decision .

Reactions: Trump’s conviction reverberated quickly across the country and around the world . Here’s what voters , New Yorkers , Republicans , Trump supporters and President Biden had to say.

The Presidential Race : The political fallout of Trump’s conviction is far from certain , but the verdict will test America’s traditions, legal institutions and ability to hold an election under historic partisan tension .

Making the Case: Over six weeks and the testimony of 20 witnesses, the Manhattan district attorney’s office wove a sprawling story of election interference and falsified business records.

Legal Luck Runs Out: The four criminal cases that threatened Trump’s freedom had been stumbling along, pleasing his advisers. Then his good fortune expired .

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