5 Ways to Write a College Application That Isn’t Generic
One of the biggest mistakes that people make on their college applications is sounding overly generic. All too often, students answer the question “Why do you want to attend this school?” with something generalized and clichéd about the “liberal arts education” or the “world-class professors” or “fascinating classes.” And when students are asked to answer this same exact question for 12 different schools, they may find it very tempting to copy and paste their response. After all, aren’t all colleges basically the same?
However, it is important not to underestimate the importance of this question. Admissions officers go through hundreds of applications, and if you want yours to stand out from the crowd, then you have to think carefully about your answer. A generic response along the lines of “I want to attend this university because of the opportunity to take liberal arts classes and develop as an individual” will send your college admissions officer to sleep. More importantly, a clichéd response will signify to the college admissions officer that you aren’t actually interested in their school. And colleges tend to not accept students who don’t seem genuinely interested in them.
Here are five ways to write a college application that isn’t generic.
1) Reference the school colors, motto, mascots, or other symbols. For example, if the school’s colors are blue and gold, you can talk about how you look forward to walking into your first day of anthropology class decked out in blue and gold. Or, if the school mascot is a lion, you could talk about how excited you are to attend a football game tailgate and cheer for the Lions. This is incredibly simple, but it can make a huge difference to your application. It would show the college admissions officer that you’ve done your research, and you’re genuinely excited about attending this particular school.
2) Talk about specific extracurricular activities, student organizations, and clubs that you’re interested in participating in. It is important to make these as school-specific as possible. For example, instead of saying “I’m excited to join the school newspaper because I like to write,” try saying something like “I’m excited to join The Harvard Crimson, because of its long and florid history, as well as its penchant for publishing controversial opinion pieces, such as ‘When We Let Hate on Campus.’” Remember — colleges want to admit people who will become active members of the campus community. Research all of the extracurricular offerings, think about which ones you would actually be interested in joining, and write about them with as much detail as possible.
3) Talk about specific classes, professors, and academic experiences that you’re interested in. Many college course offerings can be found online with a little research. This way, instead of writing “I’m interested in studying biology,” you could write “I’m interested in pursuing a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology, and I’m particularly excited to take the class ‘The Brain: Development Plasticity and Decline’ with Professor Sam Kunes.” Even better, you could go on a college visit, which often comes with the opportunity to attend classes and even speak with professors. If you had that opportunity, this would be a great time to reference back to specific conversations you had with professors or specific classes you attended. This would show that you take initiative and that you’re academically curious.
4) Reference back to conversations you had with current students at the college. A lot of information about each college can be found online — information about extracurricular activities, academic offerings, symbols and colors and mottos. But some things cannot be found online. In order to really learn more about the college, it’s important to talk to current students at the college. If you visit the college, you often get the opportunity to speak to current students and learn more about the aspects of the school that are less tangible — for example, the social scene, the sense of community, the school spirit. You can write about those experiences in your college application. For example, you could say something like “I’m particularly attracted to this school because of the tight-knit sense of community and collaboration that many current students point to as the highlight of their experience.”
5) Try to imagine yourself at this school. Close your eyes and really think about the kinds of things you would do every day. Maybe you will be relaxing in the lawn on a sunny day. Maybe you will be poring over ancient texts in one of the many beautiful libraries. Maybe you will be rowing down the nearby river with the intramural team. Maybe you will be making friends in the dining hall, tossing ideas for startups over mozzarella sticks. Maybe you will be a research assistant for a professor. Maybe you will be running a Model Congress conference in Hong Kong. Get creative, and write about how you see yourself spending a day at that specific college.
Nian is a content creator Mascot. She recently graduated from Harvard College.
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