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How to write the “Why us?” supplement essay for US colleges

Colleges generally seek to understand two things through this essay: what makes you a good fit for that particular college, and whether or not you’re interested in them and have done your research.
AYAAN SHAMS SIDDIQUEE
When applying to US colleges, be prepared to write essays — a lot of them. Thankfully, there’s a wide range of resources available concerning the 650-word-long Common App personal essay, which is often considered the heart of your application. However, for college-specific supplements, the number of resources leaves much to be desired.
That being said, the following is a guide on writing the infamous “Why us?” supplement.
The “Why us?” essay is perhaps the most common supplement you’ll come across on your application journey. While different schools word it differently, they generally seek to understand two things through this essay: what makes you a good fit for that particular college, and whether or not you’re interested in them and have done your research.
A common pitfall applicants step into while writing this essay is being vague and nonspecific. For example, they might end up saying that they want to learn psychology and economics, but fail to mention specific courses or clubs they found interesting surrounding those subjects. Furthermore, there might be joint programmes that offer a combination of their desired majors, such as PPE (philosophy, politics, and economics), which the applicant might gloss over completely. This could indicate that they did not do enough research on the school to uncover anything in particular that they might levitate towards.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, by listing the different courses they want to take, professors they want to conduct research under, and clubs they want to be a part of, applicants may go overboard with showing schools how much research they’ve done.
Mark Dunn, admission officer at Yale University, thoroughly discourages this approach in episode 6 of the “Inside the Yale Admissions Office” podcast. He says, “This [essay] is not designed as an exercise to simply profess your love for Yale or for whatever institution you are applying to. People go and they research obscure faculty members or find something that appeared in the student newspaper four years ago, and they’re just telling us they’ve done their homework here. We are not looking for facts about Yale here. We already know those. You don’t need to tell us.”
Colleges don’t only want to know what about them attracts you; they also want to gauge what about you should attract them and why they should invest in you as a student. The “Why us?” supplement can be a perfect platform for you to showcase that you recognise your interests and know how to take the necessary steps to nurture those interests at the school of your choosing. This supplement is, therefore, important for establishing yourself as an ambitious, focused applicant who can add value to the school’s community during your time there and beyond.
Thus, many successful “Why us?” essays focus on what brought applicants to that college and those courses in the first place; they talk about how the applicant and the college complement each other. Reflections on life experiences that shaped your interests, intended majors, and goals can act as a segue into school-specific resources that could help you pursue those objectives.
For example, if you are interested in environmental science and that stemmed from time spent in your school’s Eco Earth Club, you could explain how the college’s course on sustainable design speaks to you and would enable you to deepen your commitment to environmental preservation.
However, this is not to say that supplemental essays should become a rehashing of your activities list. With a typical word limit of 150-300 words, it might be more impactful to focus on a specific interest and use it as a gateway to show how the college’s offerings can help you further develop that passion.
Lastly, it might also be helpful to dig through your target school’s mission statement, core values, motto, or anything similar that could give you an idea about the kind of student body they aim to build. If you find values that align with your own, highlighting those in your essay can help demonstrate that you’re an ideal fit for their campus culture.
Ayaan immerses himself in dinosaur comics and poorly-written manga. Recommend your least favourite reads at ayaan.shams@gmail.com