Successful essay

Hi!

I agree wholeheartedly with what others have said, but a really big point that I think is often overlooked is that you should enjoy writing your essay. While the pressure of trying to write "the perfect essay" can be hard to shake off, I think the best strategy is writing about something you want to write about. I personally framed my Why essay (which got me accepted to my dream school) around my favorite movie, which is an obscure cult classic about appreciating the mundane. It made it really easy to love my essay when I was done with it! However, this isn't to say that I just wrote about the movie. I mean that I did what others suggested here (used specific details about why I loved that college), but then I connected those details to aspects of the movie that I loved, and why those details were valuable to me and my identity. Similarly, I suggest you find something that you love that can help make it easier for you to write and make your essay stand out in the crowd.

I hope this advice helps some and I wish you the best continuing your college application process :))

Hi @auppu!

This blog should answer your question in general:

https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-why-us-college-essay/

Georgia Tech's 2023 prompt is "Why do you want to study your chosen major specifically at Georgia Tech?" (Taken from their website) This is a combination of both the "Why this Major" and "Why Us" essays. The following blog should help you specifically for Georgia Tech.

https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-georgia-tech-essays-2022-2023/

Hope this helps!

I think a good way to make this kind of essay stand out is by using details specific to each college. It's easy to copy and paste using broad things like undergraduate research or college community without any specifics. First of all, think about what genuinely makes you want to go there. Then look on their website, social media, or anything you might have seen on a campus tour for something unique about their college that relates. If you want to be involved in the community you could mention their environmental justice club or squirrel-watching club. Even if it's something common you can still give a specific example: If you want to do undergraduate research you could cite a specific professor who did research in the area that interests you and how you want to work with them. If you want to write about something regarding academics check out the website for the specific department you're applying to, and make sure to look at any kind of "student life" section.

Good Luck! :)