Why This College Essay: Tips on Writing

Why this college essay is one of the most challenging academic writing types that a student may be assigned throughout his/ her academic career. It may be easy for one to write this essay in terms of structure, but it can be really challenging and complicated for students to write it considering the stress they have. The assignment may be rather daunting as students feel the pressure that success of this paper determines their enrollment in the college they have dreamt of. When reviewing “why this college” essays, the admission committee want to discover two major aspects: who you are as a person and who you are as a student (or a future researcher). Therefore, when writing a why this college essay, it is necessary to fully present these two perspectives of your personality. The major reason why students find themselves under stress while working on why this college essays is that they need to depict different corners of their personality in the right way to meet the writing standards and also to provide a comprehensive picture of their strengths and weaknesses.

The Main Types of Why This College Essay Prompts

“Why this college” essays serve as a link between you and the college of your dreams. If you wonder, “How to start a why this college essay?” check out the main aspects that your essay should address: Answer the question “why this college?” Be ready to come up with strong arguments why you have chosen this particular college, what benefits you will derive from studying here, what contribution you can make, how studying in this college will further impact your professional experience.

Answer the question “Why you”? Specifically, it should reflect on why you consider yourself a student who is worth being chosen for studying in this specific college program. Focus on the talents, skills, abilities, and personal qualities that you think could come in handy for you in your future career.

According to the main principles of why this college essay guide, students should lean towards one of the aforementioned questions, which means that you either predominantly focus on the importance of obtaining education in a specific college or your qualities and skills that make you fit for a certain studying program. When choosing which focus to take, pay attention to the essay prompt. Some essay prompts clearly ask, “Why us?”, whereas the others may ask, “Why you?”
Please consider that these two questions are merely two sides of the same coin. Your main aim is to clearly present your personal reasons why you want to apply for college. For example, you want to start a specific program because you want to have a chance to learn from a specific renowned professor. If you are focusing on the “Why us?” question, the point is what this knowledge and practical experience would help you achieve in your future life. Meanwhile, if you choose to focus on “Why me?” question, you will most probably focus on your personal skills and qualities that make you a perfect student for this professor and for this program in general.
Take a look at some why this college essay examples of how these approaches differ.
Prompts to “Why us” essay writing:

State why [this educational establishment].
Indicate specific reasons why you are interested in it.
Mention why the college is a good choice for you.
What is the thing that you like about this college most?
Reasons why you want to attend this institutional affiliation.

Essay prompts from some educational institutions related to “Why us?” essays:

New York University: “We are interested in getting to know more explanation from you what in particular makes you interested in NYU. What motivates you to enroll to NYU? What particular studying aspect have you expressed your interest in: studying program, professors, life on campus, major? If you have chosen more than one aspects, specify some additional ones.”
Tulane University: “Please describe the main reasons why you are the best candidate for joining our studying program.”
Tufts University: “What do you know about our university’s undergraduate students that motivates you to join the program?”
Wellesley College: “When choosing a college, you are choosing not merely a place where you can acquire quality education, but also a place where you can live, have fun, socialize, and flourish. So, what are the most decisive factors that have inspired you to enroll to our college? Elaborate on the items or factors that you find most motivational, inspirational, and why?”
University of Michigan: “Provide a brief and concise description of the main qualities that are appealing to you when you are thinking of enrolling to the University of Michigan. What is so special or peculiar about the curriculum that would support your personal and academic interests?”

Essay prompts from some educational institutions related to “Why you?” essays:

Bowdoin College: “We have “The Offer of the College” that many students often find it to resonate with their values and wishes. What about you? Which line most resonates with you and why?
Babson College: “Reflect on your personal experience, qualities, and wishes that drive you to applying for this college.”
Colorado College: “What is your underlying reason why you want to join our educational establishment and how do you view your personal contribution here?”
Brown University: “At our college, you will definitely gain not only impeccable studying experience but you will also learn from your peers. How can you personally contribute to our Brown community?”
Colorado College: “What are your personal reasons why you want to join Colorado community?”
Kalamazoo College: “We take pride in our thriving community that helps students to succeed and realize their potential. What are you personally looking forward to when you are thinking of the chance to study in Kalamazoo?”

How Long Should a Why This College Essay Be?

When planning the writing process and structuring your why this college paper, you need to pay attention to the word count limit. You may often find instructions that there are no word count limits, but on average an essay should be 650 words. The essay should not be too long as the admission committee are overloaded with different essay assignments and they lack time reading all of them. As such, you need to be brief and concise when expressing your arguments. More so, in some institutional affiliations, the requested word limit may even be 250 words.

Professional Tips on “How to Write a Why This College Essay?”

Tip 1: Come up with a list of the main reasons why you have decided to apply for the college.
While you were composing your college list, you definitely did not randomly pick colleges. As such, be sure to address the following questions when developing this idea:

What reasons attracted you to the college in the first place?
What do you want to gain when you are thinking of studying in our college?
How does the chosen college adhere to your criteria?

Actually, the answers you provide to these questions should overlap in a variety of aspects. Some students provide general reasons, such as location, quality of education, college community, financial aid, extracurricular activities, etc. However, when you delve deeper into these questions, you will be able to identify your real reasons why you want to pick a specific institutional affiliation. Maybe one of the reasons may be strong LGBT support in the college community. If you wonder, “How to conclude a why this college essay?” be sure that you will have to reiterate the main arguments or findings.
Tip 2: Explore outstanding opportunities that are related to studying in the college of your choice. Put emphasis on out-of-school activities.
If you are wondering, where you can get information about all extracurricular activities, the best way is to explore the college website, look through photos, and come up with your own conclusion concerning clubs, specific courses, and student life. Besides, if you are particularly interested in syllabi and majors, you can also check on the course descriptions online as well as to check on professors’ credentials.
Tip 3: Focus on your top academic reasons why you want to apply and top social reasons.
As soon as you have researched the basic information about the college, curriculum, and academic life in general, keep in mind that you will have to organize your arguments. Pick top 3 academic reasons and top 3 social reasons why you want to apply for college. The number of reasons may vary depending on the word count limit, but make sure that you manage to address them in detail. This tip will help you provide a creative why this college essay, so keep in mind that merely describing the reasons will hardly leave a lasting impression on the admission committee. Make your arguments more personalized and identify how exactly you will contribute and benefit from this experience. When providing reasons and arguments as to why you want to join a specific college, it is recommended to strike a balance between focusing on academic characteristics.

How to Write a Good Why This College Essay?

Be specific. Focus on the main reasons why you want to enter the college – do not try to focus on all the aspects. Choose at least three, but develop them properly: provide strong arguments and add sufficient examples and illustrations. Answer the question how your choice resonates with your life philosophy, background, goals, and experiences.
When writing your why this college essay, do not narrate information taken from college website. Your admission committee does not need to know the college description that is provided online. Shift your focus from describing the college to what makes it appealing to you or what is the main reason why you want to enter it.
Investigate the activities, curriculum, and classes that the college offers. A successful why this college essay should be centered on your personal curiosity among other issues. You need to demonstrate how you will expand your desire for learning. Mention some specific features and reasons in your paper.
Investigate the aspects what makes the faculty of your choice so appealing to you. The admission committee does not want to know that you are looking forward to getting skills and information from top-notch professors – they want to see specific examples and argumentation that you have researched the basic information on the college website.
Cite alumni or faculty. Students who have already encountered their admission officers, visited the institutional affiliation, had a school trip to college whatsoever, should mention this former experience and indicate whether it has changed one’s perception of the school. If you wonder, “How to end a why this college essay?” a good idea would be to mention and specify the lessons learned, what can be derived from that experience, whether your feelings and opinions about the college have changed, etc.
Avoid general statements. Try to avoid some generalizations when it comes to school members, other applicants, or some information about the college. Try to avoid such general statements that relate to being hard working, able to work under stress, able to cope with plenty of assignments, and so on. If you take a look at some examples of why this college essay, you may see that some students take an active part in some extracurricular activities and so on, but try to be honest when you are providing facts about yourself.
Express your particular interest in the college of your dreams. Provide specific examples why you want to apply for college. Specify how your life will change when you are enrolled on the program or how the college will benefit from your active participation in the college life.
Other recommendations. If you are applying to different colleges at the same time and if you are writing some motivation letters of why this college essays, make sure to update and adjust information accordingly. Besides, thoroughly explore the positions or majors listed – if you want to obtain a certain specialty, double-check whether your chosen college offers it.

Keep in mind that why this college paper helps one to provide an argumentative paper on why he/ she wants to enroll on a specific program. Besides, with the help of your why this college paper, you will demonstrate that you know what you want and that you have researched the topic in depth.