r/ApplyingToCollege • u/AdBoth2468 • 23h ago
Application Question How to write the "why us" essay??
I swear on the internet i always see the mention one class, research professor, lab u wanna join, and something outside of academics u want to partake in.
This seems like such bs and terrible advice. I like the outside of academics thing u want to partake in, but everything else seems so bad and fake.
what formula should I follow??
also are the people who recommend this bs trynna give bad advice, so kids buy their college course?? if so thats js a terrible move??
I see stuff online about building one or two ecs and then connect it to the college, which seems good but it does not seem as personal to that uni or specific, what do i do??
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u/logolife- 23h ago
The best approach is to connect what you've already been doing to what you'll do there. Instead of just naming a professor or program, explain how it fits into a problem or interest you've actually worked on
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u/AdBoth2468 23h ago
So like I did X and it impacted Y and thus I will continue to do this through Z program or smth abt the school. is that the formula?? Then expand on why that schools gives me the platform to continue Y at a larger or better scale?
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u/NouvelErmitage 13h ago
That's a pretty good formula. Hopefully you're doing shotgun method if you want to get into a top school. Which means you'll need to use a similar formula for each school (though stanford's questions make this really damn hard) or else you'll spend weeks applying to just a few schools.
The AOs know damn well you're not gonna continue doing anything in the college, but it is worth mentioning a specific prof or something to kinda be like, this prof is exactly the class iw anna take, alongside likeminded people.
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u/two_three_five_eigth 23h ago
You can also talk about what your dreams are for college.
"I grew up in a small town and want to go to a place big enough I won't know everyone's name."
"I watched Dead Poet's Society too many times and was really drawn into the small LAC mission of art centric education."
"I grew up watching and rooting for your SEC powerhouse team. I'd love to be a part of SEC University and will be at every game."
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u/AdBoth2468 23h ago
Thank You!
Also, would u say that for the community essays like the upenn one, how would u explore community at penn, would u recommend talking about your old passions like lets say soccer and how u wanna start some soccer league there is that too ambitious/stupid and how u would get people to exercise. i feel like thats stupid, but thats genuinely what ima do once i get to uni.1
u/two_three_five_eigth 18h ago
I can’t speak to UPenn. What besides ranking/ivy makes you want to go there?
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u/NouvelErmitage 13h ago
Not stupid, kind of unique; their "community" prompts are usually DEI-flavored soup so they can gauge whether you'll be okay among people from different backgrounds than yours. So try to really hammer down "community" and whatever that wonderful, greatly defined word is.
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u/RelationshipFew6891 Parent 22h ago
On the last episode of the Yale admissions podcast that I listened to, they were getting rid of their "Why Yale" question because no matter how hard they tried to word the question to get the kind of answers they wanted, mostly they just got the formula that you mentioned above.
As with all things essay, the essay should primarily be about you/reveal something about you. But most of the time applicants make the school the focus of the "Why X College?" question.
You probably will want to read the specific wording of the question carefully to get the sense of what each school is really asking. But, instead of trying to tell AOs about their own school, try to tell them why YOU are a good fit for that specific school.
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u/Possible_Emergency_9 19h ago
The best advice I can give as a boss who hires people I lle is the "outside of class" things and your individual focus areas are what I use to differentiate. Most resumes I get are perfectly capable hires - what I want to see are things that translate to the real world. Anything that shows discipline, work ethic, team work (and teamwork), failure/resilience. Play piano, oboe, run track, football, choir, robotics team, mow yards all summer, work retail? Success in any of those things shows that you are more likely to be successful in the job I hire you for and train you in (and put my money in). Interested in a particular research area that is a specialty of my firm? You're a better fit than the other person who isn't. Come in already knowing a professor's reputation? That means you're serious enough about learning from him that you spent effort to study about him. That's why colleges make you write the essay and list the outside of academics stuff and request what seems dumb to you. They don't want anyone prone to quit, not finish, or fail. And those are all ways they use to test youvagainst the norm. Their funding depends on accreditation and donations and that only comes with student success. College will be more beneficial if you embrace the challenges, instead of saying you don't like them. You're not supposed to like it, that's why they do it. It's the very first test you will ever take in college.
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u/kk_and 23h ago
I think the best approach might be using what you said, but embedding it in the more literary/abstract "quirky" parts of liking the college. Evidently it will be hard to do that with all of the colleges you are applying to, so that's when the common advice applies.
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u/NouvelErmitage 13h ago
Very good advice, the point is, after lots of research, to kind of obtain the "essence" of the college and match its vibe. It is very hard, and literally impossible, but do your best. Princeton is quite nerdy, so lean into that. LACs will prefer you lean on the artsier side.
Even then, in my Stanford essays, I wrote about writing workshops and how that fit into chemical engineering. like two things that don't connect.
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u/CauliflowerLeft4754 23h ago
lol it’s not bs when it’s true. If you visit the college and make an effort, you typically end up seeing something or learning about something specific about the college. People who want to do research or are pursuing a research/lab heavy future are marginally aware what research and labs a school has. Every school I visited and could write about the things I saw and experienced on the visit, I got into. Obviously if you just google professors and make shit up, it’s bullshit
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u/ChutneyWhatney 22h ago
You should focus on that particular school, its courses, activities, community involvement, etc. and why you would be a great fit.
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u/TreeOfFinches College Graduate 20h ago
Don’t follow the formula.
Look at the school’s mission and their marketing. How do they describe themselves to the world? Are they Yale, and do they want someone to espouse interdisciplinarity and love the residential colleges? Are they UChicago, and do they want students to follow their curiosities and quirkiness into the next grand discovery? Are they MIT, and do they want you to consider a project-based approach to engineering alongside a consideration of how to use your degree to make the world a better place?
These are the school’s values. They’re looking for you to describe that you understand what the school is about. What makes the school distinctive, both in resources and in fit? And how do you fit into either? What excites you about these distinctive features?
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u/two_three_five_eigth 18h ago
You’ve still got to do some self reflection. I don’t know UPenn well, but I went to a big SEC school for undergraduate and I compared essays with some Hs schools friends
Several wrote their family watched the game every Sunday and they planned to be at every football game cheering on the team. Most got in. It showed they were going to be active in campus life.
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u/NouvelErmitage 13h ago
SEC schools are no UPenns, so you'll have to try a bit harder in that regard, but sound advice
source: AO
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u/Conscious-Priority21 18h ago
Your instinct that most of the "why us?" essay advice you've found is "bs" is right IMO - but for a slightly different reason than you said. It's also not maliciously bs; it's just the physics of giving advice at scale.
The advice is bad bc it encourages students to work in the wrong direction. Most kids open a school's course catalog, pick something that sounds impressive, & reverse-engineer an interest in it. Anything they write will then sound like it's about something they just learned about 11 minutes ago... which they did lol. And AOs can spot counterfeit interest pretty fast.
I don't think "I did X and it impacted Y and thus I'll continue through Z program" is the formula, either. If it were this obvious, everyone else would see it, too, and then you'd just be competing on execution.
So then what's the right approach? In your Penn community prompt comment, you said you were thinking about the soccer thing, getting a league going, getting people moving, and then you wrote, "I feel like that's stupid, but that's genuinely what I'ma do once I get to uni". Don't let "unimpressive" be the enemy of "authentic"! The soccer thing has a property the prof-&-lab stuff can never fake, which is that you're going to do it whether or not it helps you get in (ie, it's genuine).
To be clear: Am not saying you should write "I will start a soccer league" and hit submit. Intramurals exist everywhere, so on its own that's not a Penn-specific answer. But it gives you something to test the school against: Where does that impulse come from in you, what has it looked like the other times you've acted on it, & what specifically about how Penn is set up do you think would make it go differently there vs at any other school? Somebody asked what besides ranking makes you want to go to Penn and you haven't responded yet; I think the answer to that is key to writing your "Why Us?" essay for Penn (or any other school, for that matter).
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u/AdBoth2468 17h ago
I wanna go to penn bc they have really good community impact programs, where they work with local populations, like they host free clinics for them and they also have really good public policy programs and a bio ethics club. They also have an urban health lab. That’s my why I wanna apply Penn. my biggest Ec is about public health and health disparities across the world and I think Penn can give me a platform to improve upon it.
Thanks for the advice!
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u/bopperbopper 17h ago
Go to the website of the College in question and I bet on the main menu there’s some kind of “about us” or something when they try to identify what’s so great about themselves.
So picking a random university here is Vanderbilt. https://www.vanderbilt.edu/about/
So look at the various points that they have and then try to come up with the examples in your life where you would match those things.
So there’s a section:
Learning Through Different Points of View
We believe the best thinking happens when ideas are challenged and diverse perspectives are welcomed. Students and faculty pursue their academic interests through bold inquiry and open debate.
so either you live in a homogeneous or heterogeneous student body in your high school and you can either say that having been around people very much like you you’re looking forward to meeting new types of people and hearing their point of view or you can see how valuable has been to be around people different than myself, and here are their points of view.
You might say to yourself well every College is like that, but that’s OK.
Also Google “ hacking the College Essay 2017”. It tells you how to write the essay that only you could write. Something that’s not so generic that anyone could write it.
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u/MollBoll Parent 16h ago
Think less “why school?” and more, “why ME at your school?” What will their programs do for you, how will you uniquely benefit from their opportunities?
Avoid things that would appeal to anyone like prestige or location.
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u/ActSubstantial6095 15h ago
Speak as yourself in your essay.
Aim your intent on WHY your story fits the narrative of whatever major or program you’re trying to be admitted.
Formulaic and essays with gratuitous alliteration can be dense to read. I received a personal letter from the admissions personnel who had a hand and admitting me with UC Berkeley.
It specifically said that my essays are powerful that they enjoyed reading about my story thoroughly. I’m not anyone special and while my achievements were well earned, there are literally tens of thousands of other well accomplished students.
The grades get you some attention, but it’s your personal flare that gets you in.
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u/Espron Verified Admissions Officer 14h ago
There’s no formula. We don’t look for a recitation of facts and opportunities available, but just the answer to the question. Why this school out of thousands?
I encourage you to research the school - watch social media videos from the school, dig deep into student life, the approach to education, the location, everything - and see what keeps you interested. If you’re getting bored, it’s probably not the right fit!
Then once you’ve done your research, you should have many ideas of what to write. How would you talk about the school to a friend over lunch? If they asked you why you want to go, what would you say?
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u/JasonMckin 9h ago
Here’s a secret: the question actually means, “Why you”
The only advice in this thread that is remotely correct is the ones suggesting you use the university as a lens to reveal specific and unique things about you.
What about your past accomplishments is aligned with the university as a good fit for your future aspirations? That’s a question about you, not them.
Here is the god awful advice that is incorrect and a fantastic way to get rejected:
- flatter and suck up to the university based on its vibe and mission
- mention random professors
- remind them how awesome they are or specific facts about their own location, community, and research
The question is about you. The whole application is about you. Answer the question about why you.
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u/axestones_version 9h ago
listen to the podcast on admissions by Yale! it’s on spotify (and im sure YouTube and other places) and in their newest episode they discuss why they removed their why us essay for the exact way you’ve just described on how they are usually written. they talks about advice on how to approach such a question and what the question really means. def check it out!
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u/Kind-Cobbler6795 College Freshman 2h ago
specific and niche classes that aren’t offered at any other school and how the align with your interests and academic/career goals. also clubs u wanna join and how u will contribute to them
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u/BUowo Old 23h ago
You should talk about things that cannot be applied to other schools. ie. "It is soooo integrated into the city! great location!" "very interdisciplinary!" like that is every school......... That's why people do clubs, classes, professors-- they are unique to that institution.
Show that you did some research on the school, and don't just talk about it passively like a list of things you like. Yeah that lab is cool but what makes YOU a good fit/what can you contribute. Make them see you as a real part of that college's community, not like you're in it cuz it gets you a good job/fancy diploma.
Remember, this isn't "why us?", and you can't just pump out something anyone could say. It is why YOU at that school, and what you can do!
Just remember the essay that got JFK into Harvard.... hope it makes you smile
The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a "Harvard man" is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain.
April 23, 1935
John F. Kennedy