How To Write The Why Us Essay

Here’s the secret to writing your “Why us?” and “Why this college?” essays:

Admissions officers ask these questions because they want to see if you’ll be a good match for their school—both academically, socially, culturally, and otherwise.

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Admissions officers are trying to answer these 4 questions about you with this essay:

1. Are you genuinely interested in our school? Is there a good chance you’ll go here if we accept you?
2. Do you have what it takes to be a successful student here? What does this essay reveal about you that we didn’t already know?
3. Are you a good fit for our school and the culture? Will you positively contribute to the school if you attend?
4. Do you have an idea about what you want your future to look like, and will our school help you fulfill that vision?

Biggest Mistakes Students Make in “Why This College” Essays

Most students approach these essays with generic answers that focus too heavily on the school itself.

Things like… “I want to go to Yale because it has…”

Then, most students throw in a few specific, but generic, qualities about the school, like…

This is generic.

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It’s super generic because it doesn’t tell the admissions officer anything about you.

Anybody could write these things. Admissions officers already know these things about their school.

A Better Approach to “Why This College” Essays

A better approach is to focus on yourself.

Specifically, what’s a unique, specific, and interesting idea that you can explore?

A better approach would be something like…

So why does this approach work so much better?

Find an interesting, unique, idea.

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It could be…

• “solving systemic problems by taking full accountability”
• “promoting social justice through radical honesty”
• “reducing the latency of communication to deepen our learning experience”

Or any other ideas that matter to you.

Then, connect your idea to the school’s offerings.

Any student could also mention the “Engineering Physics Club” or the “Leitner Observatory”, but the difference in how you mention these things.

What do these opportunities represent? How do they tie into that idea?

Now, let’s look at some examples of “Why this college?” essays that worked for top-20 schools.

I’ve gathered 37 “Why us?” essays that range in topics, quality, and schools, so you can see what works and what doesn’t.

Let’s dive right in.

37 “Why This College” Essay Examples

1. “Why Northwestern” Essay Example

2. “Why Northwestern?” Essay Example

3. “Why Northwestern?” Essay Example

4. “Why Northwestern?” Essay Example

5. “Why Tufts?” Essay Example

6. “Why Tulane?” Essay Example

Why This Essay Works:

What They Might Improve:

7. “Why Tulane?” Essay Example

8. “Why University of Michigan?” Essay Example

9. “Why University of Michigan?” Essay Example

10. “Why University of Michigan?” Essay Example

11. “Why University of Michigan?” Essay Example

12. “Why Oberlin?” Essay Example

13. “Why Dartmouth?” Essay Example

14. “Why Claremont McKenna?” Essay Example

15. “Why Indiana University?” Essay Example

16. “Why New York University (NYU)?” Essay Example

17. “Why University of Michigan?” Essay Example

18. “Why University of Michigan?” Essay Example

19. “Why University of Michigan?” Essay Example

20. “Why University of Michigan?” Essay Example

21. “Why University of Southern California (USC)?” Essay Example

22. “Why University of Southern California (USC)?” Essay Example

23. “Why Cornell?” Essay Example

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24. “Why University of Pennsylvania?” Essay Example

25. “Why University of Pennsylvania?” Essay Example

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26. “Why Tufts University?” Essay Example

27. “Why Tufts University?” Essay Example

28. “Why Northwestern?” Essay Example

29. “Why Notre Dame?” Essay Example

30. “Why Notre Dame?” Essay Example

31. “Why Ithaca College?” Essay Example

32. “Why Rice University?” Essay Example

33. “Why University of Wisconsin-Madison?” Essay Example

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What They Might Improve:

34. “Why Cornell University?” Essay Example

35. “Why Brown University?” Essay Example

36. “Why UPenn?” Essay Example

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37. “Why Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)?” Essay Example

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What You Can Learn From These “Why This College” Essay Examples

Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY