{"id":2895,"date":"2014-11-10t09:00:41","date_gmt":"2014-11-10t17:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/?p=2895"},"modified":"2021-01-06t14:16:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06t22:16:23","slug":"the-dreaded-writing-supplement-why-our-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/the-dreaded-writing-supplement-why-our-school\/","title":{"rendered":"the dreaded writing supplement: \u201cwhy our school?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>we all have <em>those<\/em> colleges on our list. you know the ones. they\u2019re the schools your parents made you apply to, the schools you decided to apply to just because you\u2019ve heard a few good things, or maybe they&#8217;re the \u201csafety\u201d schools that you don\u2019t really expect to attend. <\/p>\n<p>whatever the case, you don\u2019t know much about these institutions. then you come to the dreaded question in the application: \u201cwhy our school?\u201d <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/sat\/files\/2014\/11\/tumblr_m2woxnojc91qgcra2o1_500.gif\" alt=\"tumblr_m2woxnojc91qgcra2o1_500\" width=\"500\" height=\"244\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2896\" \/><\/p>\n<p>don\u2019t panic! here\u2019s what you need to know about how to write a successful response to this prompt for the school that\u2019s not exactly your top choice.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong>don\u2019t go on and on about the city where the college is located.<\/strong><br \/>\nan ode to your love for boston doesn\u2019t tell an admissions officer why boston college is a better fit for you than boston university.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong>research!<\/strong><br \/>\nspend a little while browsing the website of the college, especially the pages for any academic programs or community service opportunities you might be interested in. as you learn more and more about the school, you might be surprised at the number of things you can bring up in the supplement.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong>be specific.<\/strong><br \/>\ndon\u2019t just write that you would like to attend a college because of their world-renowned biology department. explain why you like aspects of the department at this school in particular, such as certain classes and professors.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong>talk to an alumni of your high school who now attends the college.<\/strong><br \/>\nyour college counselor may be able to put you in touch by providing an email or a phone number. this student can help you learn information you never could have found on a website. you can ask them questions about student life and the general atmosphere on campus, if you weren\u2019t able to visit.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong>it\u2019s all about you.<\/strong><br \/>\nalthough the prompt \u201cwhy our college?\u201d might seem to be heavily focused on the school itself, a main part of the essay should describe your interests and goals and explain why the school is a good fit for you specifically. your response should be very personalized, not just a rephrased version of the college\u2019s brochure.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong>be honest. <\/strong><br \/>\ncollege admissions officers read hundreds of these essays and they can tell a sincere student from one that just knows what will sound impressive. exaggeration can be tempting, but remember that being your unique self is what will make you stand out from the crowd.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>we all have those colleges on our list. you know the ones. they\u2019re the schools your parents made you apply to, the schools you decided to apply to just because you\u2019ve heard a few good things, or maybe they&#8217;re the \u201csafety\u201d schools that you don\u2019t really expect to attend. whatever the case, you don\u2019t know [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[24903],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- this site is optimized with the yoast seo premium plugin v21.7 (yoast seo v21.7) - 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