This year’s Common App went up today. Seniors should take a few minutes to a) register, b) link to colleges, and c) browse their supplements. Supplements, sometimes no more than glorified “Legacy?” check boxes, more often ask additional essay questions–usually, “Why Our School?”
Then go back to enjoying summer. And while you’re in the pool, your mind might wander to the question of why, in fact, you want to go to (this) college.
Indiana University is “the new Wisconsin.” [WSJ]
NYC toddlers are 34% more excellent than last year. [NYT City Room]
The SAT still discriminates. [Head Count]
This professor is 110! [Tweed]
Good news: Some colleges (Boston College, Brown, Catholic, and a bunch more) do indeed superscore (combine a student’s highest scores on) the ACT. [College Admissions Partners]
Baddish news: Princeton fraternities are as awful as you would probably expect. [IvyGate]
Medium news: 1 in 3 of you will switch colleges. And there’s a podcast about it. [The Choice]
The DOE has announced 31 new charter schools for fall 2010 and, not coincidentally, a shiny new (charter school) common app due April 1. [TheInsideSCOOP]. Not everyone loves charter schools. [NYC Public School Parents]
Columbia has switched to the Common App, just like U Chicago did. [Bwog] So have U Conn, U Mich, St. John’s College, and Yeshiva. [Common App]
School budget cuts–ouch! [GothamSchools] Also (more) excruciating (than ever): Harvard and Stanford tuition. [Daily Intel]
Constance McMillen’s prom case went before a judge today (with mixed results); her anti-discrimination suit is already having a ripple effect in Southern schools. [AP, GLSEN Blog]
Regular (non-early, non-rolling) admissions decisions will sweep in over the next few weeks. Collegewise says not to freak out over rejections:
“One of the best ways to get over a college rejection is to look ahead six months from now. This September, you will be moving into a dorm. You’ll be meeting your new roommate while your parents exact a promise that you’ll call home on a regular basis. You’ll be buying a sweatshirt bearing the name of your new college. You’ll go to your first college class, start making your initial college friends, and officially begin your life as a college freshman. Do you have any idea just how exciting that’s going to be for you?”
Application Boot Camp, sagely observing that “[c]hoosing your college is an important
decision,” says not to rush your decision process.
And The Choice is running one of those cute admissions human-interest series so that parents of college-bound teenagers can goof off at work.
Congratulations to my extremely clever students who got into college!
Two nice Times Q & As this week:
1. Clara Hemphill on NYC public school admission (3 parts):
“There is no quality control on the information the schools provide about themselves. It’s next to impossible to transfer schools, so you need to kick the tires and look under the hood of any school before you enroll.”
2. Mark Kantrowitz on the FAFSA and financial aid (7 parts):
“[Y]ou should submit the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE form even if you think you won’t qualify for aid[,] because many families underestimate their eligibility for need-based aid. This is especially true at the colleges that require the PROFILE, since they tend to be among the more expensive colleges.”
And check out this one from September.
My junior year roommates had one of those “For God, For Country, and For Yale” banners on the mantle of our drafty, ant-infested common room. My non-Yale friends thought the banner was ironic, and maybe it was, but not in the way they thought. It’s the same with the new admissions video. Carve out sixteen or so minutes and see what I went through.
If you’re still writing, here is the banging “why” essay (by my sibling, a little edited/altered by my hand) I promised you:
One of the most appealing aspects of University of Chicago is the way it is constructed. I’m not talking about its physical construction (although I do love collegiate Gothic architecture). I’m talking about the construction of your curriculum. There is the Common Core, which not only forms a sturdy foundation in all areas of academic study, but also creates a community where everybody has read the same books. Imagine: over 4000 people with a common intellectual language! Besides the core, there are so many exciting concentrations. I could create a double concentration in East Asian Languages and Civilizations and Economics, and combine my love of Japanese language, culture, and history with my interest in economic analysis. With courses such as Literature and Politics in Japan and The Economics of Globalization in East Asia, I would have the opportunity to study pan-Asian econo-cultural interactions and prepare to study abroad in Japan my junior year. Alternatively, if I concentrated in International Relations and Human Rights, I could learn how to address socio-economic problems like the tensions between the U.S. military and the Okinawan people, which I studied independently while on a Peace Scholarship in Okinawa last summer.
U of C seems like an earnest and playful place where serious boycotts of Taco Bell are sprinkled with protests against pants, and monuments to atom reactor inventors are adjacent to glowing purple dormitories. It is a place where intellectualism and creativity reign. As a very serious student who is also playful and creative, I think I would fit in very well! I hope I have the opportunity to be a part of the U of C community. [end]
Regarding further resources, my new favorite essay-writing book is Elizabeth Wissner-Gross’s Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day. I hesitate to recommend it because, as with all of her books, about half is great and the other half exudes an obsession with competition that borders on the deranged. I mean, no, you should not mention your SAT Subject or any other test scores, even if they are good, in the first sentence of your essay. And also: scoring your essay according to some artificial 100-point weighted rubric no college would be caught dead using? What?!
Nevertheless, her chapter about the “why” essay is really worth reading. Some good tips:
-Research an academic passion on the school website. Pay attention not only to the description of the major but also to the classes, research opportunities, special subprograms, study abroad, and any co-curricular opportunities associated with that academic interest (which you are passionate about!). Mention these things.
-Use the school-specific wording; e.g., at Swarthmore people major in Religion, but at Harvard they concentrate in Comparative Study of Religion.
-Size, weather, and prestige are boring, boring.
Here is another good essay-writing resource.
Now, if you’re still working, wrap it in a bow and send it off. It’s the holidays.
Most very selective colleges ask some version of “Why do you want to come here?” Think of this question as asking the following: Are you a good fit for this school? How do you know? How much do you know about our school? How much about yourself? Do you, in fact, WANT to come here?
It’s not a fair question. Most high school seniors are not sure where they want to go to school, or if their reasons for wanting to go to a school will impress (rather than disgust) an admissions officer. Even for first choice schools, the answer might be, “I don’t exactly know why. I just like it.”
That said, some pointers:
1) The best “Why us?” essays are sincere, thoughtful, and detailed; mention your visit and any other contact with the school/area; discuss academics; and could not be written about any other school, or by anyone but you.
2) They turn perfectly legitimate, not-so-flattering reasons (”I want to get far away from my parents, my friends, and New York winters”) into equally sincere positive ones (”I’ve lived in Brooklyn my whole life, and I think it would be exciting to live on the West Coast”), if you dig.
I’ll post a couple of samples later.
