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.
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.
The Syracuse application asks whether you’ve had a paid job and, if so, what it taught you. Syracuse is really asking two things: whether you’ve had to earn things in your life instead of having them given to you, and (relatedly) whether you have a strong work ethic.
Consider every application to be asking these questions.
Work ethic should emanate from every part of an application: grades, extracurriculars, recommendations. Your whole application should show (and this is a life principle, really) that whatever privileges you’ve had, you’ve also worked very hard (i.e., that if you’ve been lucky enough to go to a great school, you’ve worked like crazy to learn and excel there). That seems pretty obvious, but it’s important to remember.
And regarding the paid job thing: colleges are justifiably impressed by someone who works for money. Not only on applications, but also in life, plan to be able to say, “Yes, I’ve worked.” Working in a store or restaurant is good. Babysitting, odd jobs, and camp counseling are also fine. Realistically, it’s been really difficult for teenagers to get any jobs in the past two years, so your answer to the job question could also be: “No. Because I didn’t have to work/couldn’t find a job, I was able to spend my time volunteering/interning/taking care of my siblings. Here’s what I did/learned.”
A panel of admissions nabobs from Wesleyan, Penn, Marquette, Princeton, Bryn Mawr, Grinnell, UVM, and Williams appeared last week in a movie-length Internet broadcast, via WSJ and Unigo, worth watching in its entirety. (Part I, however, is missing.) Highlights include stuff about the “backyard” advantage of local applicants, renegotiating aid offers, whether admissions officers look at Facebook pages (yes, of reported cyberbullies), resumes (they “hate” them), preparing for admissions as early as middle school (“I don’t want a seventh or eighth grader to think, ‘this is what they want,’ and have it drive the next six years”), and humor on the essay (redacted: “If you’re funny, be funny. If you’re not funny, don’t try it. Be very authentic.”)
Oh, yeah, and if you strangle your personality and stomp on your passions so you can become some sanitized (and probably inaccurate) image of the perfect applicant, says one dean:
“That’s going to lead you down a bad path. Because you’re going to get to an institution that isn’t…the right place for you.”
In honor of getting to hang out with my brother all weekend, a few words on applying to his alma mater, U Chicago, the brain-hive known for its Core, devotion to the free market (sort of), innovative undergrads, pirate professor (crazy like a fox), and Latke-Hamantash Debate. (U of C is also the former stomping ground and/or alma mater of much of the White House inner circle, and the possible location of the eventual Obama Presidential Library.)
U of C has a reputation for being no fun–among its grad students people who don’t get what its students consider “fun.” A postcolonial-themed costume party is fun. Drinking coffee with professors is fun. A recent protest against visiting loons hatemongers was fun (according to the Chicago Maroon), turning into a “celebration” that “raised about $500 for charity.” As one junior recalls, “When…[the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity brothers were] dancing around in their underwear, me and Rabbi Ruthie [Gelfarb] and this priest started dancing…”
Understanding this “let your freak flag fly” mindset is key to filling out the U of C’s Common App supplement, a painful document that forces undergrads to write an entirely new batch of creative essays applicable only to this application. When writing them, you must be as unself-conscious as a half-dressed frat brother dancing with a rabbi for charity. Via the excellent folks at Collegewise (who today wrapped up a 30 colleges in 30 days feature):
“For those of you who decide to take on the optional essay [about favorite books, movies, and music], all I can say is this. Geek out. Geek out like you have never geeked out before…
“If you have watched every single one of the Star Wars movies more than a dozen times, this is the place to celebrate it. If you’ve read “One Hundred Years of Solitude” over and over again, tell them why. If you read US Weekly because celebrity gossip is like an addictive substance to you, say so. If you think there should be a national holiday honoring Bruce Springsteen, or that you’re pretty sure you will break down and cry if The New York Times ever stops publishing [its] Sunday edition, or that “The Godfather”…or “Crash” or “Tommy Boy” is a DVD you’d save if your house were on fire (I would save “Tommy Boy,” by the way”), say so!
“Students who would love the University of Chicago experience celebrate what they read, watch and listen to without apology. Show them you can do it, too.”
BREAKING UPDATE (1/15/10): Congratulations to the readers of this blog entry! You all applied to U of C, creating an applications uptick of 42%.
