In expressing your individual passion for biology, you paint a picture not in watercolor of how attending University X would tie-in to your academic and career aims. So, where does one find this type of substantive information? We recommend utilizing the top college guidebooks , a real-life or virtual tour of campus, a chat with a university rep, or some good old-fashioned Googling to gather what you need. In addition to highlighting elements of a school that appeal to you, this essay also provides a venue to further explain what makes you tick and why this particular college is the ideal milieu in which to cultivate your unique passions.
What clubs, activities, or study abroad locales appeal to you? Are there unique degree programs or undergraduate research opportunities that will enhance your learning experience? A stand-out essay seamlessly and incisively connects the opportunities that the school offers to your unique interest and talents.
You did your homework and know that Reed College offers a rigorous environment for intellectually serious, self-directed students. Instead of letter grades, students receive qualitative evaluations from their professors. All courses are taught by professors, never TAs, and research opportunities for undergraduates abound. You plan on getting a graduate degree and want to immerse yourself in research throughout your undergraduate years.
You are craving direct contact with faculty. You spent your high school years independently pursuing an area of passion—creating your own reading list, seeking out adult mentors, etc. The admissions cycle is likely to be very much like the previous one which saw record numbers of applications pour into top colleges around the country. My school also has a big computer lab with trained technical staff that help us to learn everything about computers. I love playing on the computer and learning new things in the computer lab.
All the staff at my school is very polite, educated and experienced. Our teachers not only teach us but also prepare us for various competitions, and every year, my school wins many prizes in various competitions.
Even I have represented my school in a hockey championship and scored the second position. All the teachers at my school are very dedicated and punctual. They always teach us discipline and ask us to come to school on time.
Our teachers love us, and they teach us in a very simple and easy way. Whenever we fail to understand anything, they try to make us understand it again without shouting on us. They give equal attention to all the students, and that is why my school has an excellent academic record. The best part of my school is its auditorium where all the school events and competitions take place.
Our school auditorium is one of the best auditoriums in the town with a great sound and light facility. It is fully air-conditioned with lots of seats.
Every year, my school organises an annual cultural festival which lasts for two days. Many cultural events take place within these two days like singing, dancing, debate competition, etc. I love to participate in a poem writing competition every year, and many times I have won prizes as well. If you have a chance to go to a college fair where your target college has representatives, don't just come and pick up a brochure.
Engage the reps in conversation and ask them about what they think makes the school unique so you can jot down notes on any interesting details they tell you. Colleges publish lots and lots of different kinds of things—and all of these will be useful for your research. Here are some suggestions for what you can use. You should be able to find all of the following resources online. Read the mission statement of the school—does its educational philosophy align with yours? You should also read through its catalogs.
Pro Tip: These interesting features you find should be unusual in some way or different from what other schools offer. For example, being fascinated with the English department isn't going to cut it unless you can discuss its unusual focus, its world-renowned professors, or the different way it structures the major that appeals to you specifically. Are any professors highlighted? Does their research speak to you or connect with a project you did in high school or for an extracurricular? Sometimes alumni magazines will highlight a college's new focus or new expansion.
Does the construction of a new engineering school relate to your intended major? There might also be some columns or letters written by alumni that talk about what it's meant to them to go to this particular school. What stands out about their experiences? Students write about the hot issues of the day, which means that the articles will be about the best and worst things on campus. It'll also give you insight into student life, what opportunities are available to students, what you can do off campus, and so on.
Your target school is most likely on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media. Follow the school to see what it's posting about. Any exciting new campus developments? Professors in the news? Interesting events, clubs, or activities?
Wikipedia is a great resource for learning basic details about a college's history, traditions, and values.
I also recommend looking for forums on College Confidential that specifically deal with the school you're researching. Another option is to search on Google for interesting phrases, such as "What students really think about [School Name]" or "[School Name] student forum. So what should you do now that you've completed a bunch of research? Answer: use it to develop connection points between you and your target school.
These connections will be the skeleton of your "why this college" essay. You have on hand all kinds of information, from your own personal experiences on campus, to your conversations with people affiliated with your target school, to what you've learned from campus publications, to tidbits gleaned from the web. Now, it's time to sift through all of your notes to find the three to five things that really speak to you.
Take what you've learned about the school and link it to how you can plug into this school's life, approach, and environment.
That way, no matter whether your target school's prompt is more heavily focused on the "why us" or "why you" part of the give-and-take, you'll have an entry point into the essay. But what should these three to five things be? What should you keep in mind when you're looking for the gem that will become your topic? Do your research, and articulate a multi-dimensional connection to the specific college or university.
We do not want broad statements the brick pathways and historic buildings are beautiful or a rehash of the information on our website College X offers a strong liberal arts curriculum. All institutions have similarities. We want you to talk about our differences. Time to find that diamond, amethyst, opal, tourmaline, or amber in the rough.
When I say "check your gems," I mean make sure that each of the three to five things you've found is something your target school has that other schools don't have. This something should be seen from your own perspective. The point isn't to generically praise the school but instead to go into detail about why it's so great for you that they have this thing.
This something you find should be meaningful to the school and specific to you. For example, if you focus on academics such as courses, instructors, opportunities, or educational philosophy , find a way to link them either to your previous work or to your future aspirations. This something should not be shallow and non-specific. Want to live in a city? Every city has more than one college in it.
Find a way to explain why this specific college in this specific city calls to you. Like pretty architecture? Many schools are beautiful, so dwell on why this particular place feels unlike any other. Like good weather, beach, skiing, or some other geographical attribute?
There are many schools located near these places, and they know that people enjoy sunbathing. Either build a deeper connection or skip these as reasons. Every "why this college" essay is going to answer both the "why us" and the "why you" parts of the back-and-forth equation.
But depending on which way your target school has worded its prompt, you'll lean more heavily on that part. This is why I'm going to split this brainstorming into two parts—to go with the "why us" and "why you" types of questions.
Of course, since they are both sides of the same coin, you can always easily flip each of these ideas around in order to have it work well for the other type of prompt. For example, a "why us" essay might talk about how interesting the XYZ interdisciplinary project is and how it fits well with your senior project. By contrast, a "why you" essay would take the same idea but flip it to say that you've learned through your senior project how you deeply value an interdisciplinary approach to academics, making you a great fit for this school and its commitment to such work, as evidenced by project XYZ.
Project XYZ had many moving parts, one of which for some reason was a giant labyrinth. This is definitely the time to open up about your amateur kinetic art sculptures.
Pop quiz: this pretty Gothic building is on what college campus? Yup, that's right—could be anywhere. We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies.
0コメント