Why [Insert College Name] Essay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the school admssion officials had a sense of reality, they would know whatever a student said to the school about his enthusiasm in the school is also the same he said to the other dozen of schools he also applied to. What do you expect the student to do given the nature of the crabshoot for college application? Yes, he did reasonable research on schools, and that's why he came up with the dozen of names. If the AOs really thought the kid was having a superlative love for the school as he said in the application, dumb on them. Realistically, kids' answers to this question give a school almost nothing to detect how they are interested in the school compared to the rest of their school candidates.

Uhhh no, there's a marked difference between reading, "I like your school because it is ranked X," and, "This school is the right fit for me because I love the location, X traditions, specific aspects of the culture which speak to me, and I'm excited to work with X professors on X projects." Generic vs. specific.

It's really not that hard, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the school admssion officials had a sense of reality, they would know whatever a student said to the school about his enthusiasm in the school is also the same he said to the other dozen of schools he also applied to. What do you expect the student to do given the nature of the crabshoot for college application? Yes, he did reasonable research on schools, and that's why he came up with the dozen of names. If the AOs really thought the kid was having a superlative love for the school as he said in the application, dumb on them. Realistically, kids' answers to this question give a school almost nothing to detect how they are interested in the school compared to the rest of their school candidates.

Ding ding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:are doing the schools’ work for them!

You are not talking about for competitive schools, right?

Do you think people who answer questions at job interviews are "doing the company's work for them"?

Pretty dumb comment, IMHO.

THAT'S DUMB.

If you're an adult applying for a *specific* job at a *specific* company, you have *specific* reasons for wanting that job (money, prestige, it's your dream job, a good stepping stone, etc.). You probably aren't going to be entirely truthful as to why you want the job. ("I just want the big bucks. Hire me!" "My wife got a job in this city so now I have to, too." "My cousin knows the CEO and I thought it would be easier to get a job") You're going to say what you think they want to hear.

Ok, you aren’t getting it. It’s not a sense of entitlement. It’s that the question at its core simply begs a made up response. If they want to see how the children write fiction, they’d be better off with a question like, “Imagine yourself at College Whichever.
Tell a story of what a typical day might look like.”

I actually wish the schools would phrase the question like this.

[Anonymous]

If that's how you want to think of the question, then go for it. It's still answering "Why this school." As long as you frame it right.