Hey all,
As I finish up my essays for this cycle, my current focus is on the 'why x' essay, probably one of the most important supplementals. I'm wondering what y'all believe makes for a good why x. I know it's a bad idea to just regurgitate the website, and I was planning on doing a 'here are my values/goals, here's resources/clinics/etc you have that match those, here's what I'll do with them."
Thoughts?
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1 comments
I think a good way to consider these statements is the formatting of Michigan's question: why might Michigan be a good fit for you academically, professionally, and culturally (which you can read as "personally"). Those are the three broad categories that you can consider for every school. You may not have all three for everyone and that's alright! Talking about just one or two is totally fine.
I also think it's good to have a clear thesis statement ("I am interested in attending School X because of your tax law offerings and good connections to the New York City job market") and then structure your statement so that each paragraph is a point from your thesis. This not only keeps you organized but it helps me - your audience - to 1) immediately know what you're going to talk about, and 2) more easily scan this document (since I'm usually not reading this as closely as a PS or DS).
One other thing I'll throw out there for you is that I tend to find that the biggest mistakes I tend people make are:
1) Thinking this has to be a love letter. It really doesn't! It's ok to treat this more professionally (but it's also ok to let me know about the personal reasons you may be interested in attending the school).
2) Stretching this out more than necessary. If you have two good paragraphs, it's ok to have two good paragraphs. That's better than trying to turn "two good paragraphs" into "two pages, that really could have just been two paragraphs."