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"the tools I need to make myself better" - What draws you to Northwestern?


Benn_Myers 8 / 46  
Dec 21, 2010   #1
The thread is as follows:

What are the unique qualities of Northwestern - and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying - that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified?

I need help making my essay more specific and just general feedback. I hate these sorts of essays and any help that can be lent to me is very much appreciated.

The first thing that drew me to Northwestern was location. Now this is something unique on my list for college, as I've generally tried to forget about weather and climate during my application process. These have always seemed like tertiary and petty reasons to attend a school to me, and so I've chosen to throw them aside in order to make the best choices for receiving the education I think I deserve.

But Evanston appeals to me for deeper reasons, it's where my father is from. I haven't traveled very widely during my life, but I've always heard tales of my fathers Evanston child-hood, his forays and journeys into Chicago, his attendance of Northwestern football games; but until I started applying to college they always seemed distant, not just a place across the country but a place from another time. But when I started to look into the schools that I wanted to apply too I realized that it was within my reach to go to Evanston, to experience it. And while I'm sure it's not the same town that my father grew up in, and I'm sure I won't have the same experience, the romantic ideals of sort of going back further into my familial roots appeals to me. I want to see where my father grew up, I want to grow close to place like he did, I want him to be able to show me around the town and tell me what's different and what's the same. Evanston is a romanticized link to the past for me, and this is the first reason I want to attend Northwestern.

Northwestern also quite ably fills my more important second requirement: it's a good school. I believe in college not just for transcripts or degrees but for the actual purpose of gathering and attaining knowledge. With this outlook there's the understanding that you get out of college what you put into it, but with Northwestern I'm sure that I would have no problem immersing and committing myself fully to its academic curriculum. I don't know what I want to do, but Northwestern's undergraduate program offers me security in the fact that all of its departments are strong. I don't have to worry about backing the wrong horse, or realizing that I love journalism of history in a school where their programs are weak in some areas. Whatever I end up doing Northwestern can teach me. This raw undergraduate versatility is Northwestern's primary draw for me. This strength of programs combined with the fact that Northwestern employs distribution requirements instead of a rigid curriculum ensures that I can freely and easily learn what I want to learn. I want to leave college smarter (or at least more knowledgeable) then I walked in. With Northwestern's academic strength and sheer volume of reputable programs I know that I won't have any problems with that.

I wish I had more to tell you. Bigger or deeper reasons for my firm interest in your school, but really that's all I have to say. What more could I want out of college then a great school with a location that appeals to me? I'd be equally happy at a small or large University, (Northwestern's in-between, sounds great to me) I don't particularly care for the particular skill or ranking of sports teams (I like supporting my teams, but it's really more about being at the game then whether we win or lose for me.) Perhaps I'm not as picky as I should be, but all I'm looking for is opportunity. The opportunities to grow, learn, experience, and mature. I know Northwestern can offer this opportunity, I know Northwestern can give me all the tools I need to make myself better, and that is why Northwestern appeals to me.
genevieveedu 5 / 14  
Dec 21, 2010   #2
Careful when revealing the allure of the location; they want to know why you care about the school (why they are important, not Evanston).
Goodluck!
EF_Kevin 8 / 13,321 129  
Jan 1, 2011   #3
The first thing that drew me to Northwestern was location, but weather and climate have always seemed like tertiary and petty reasons to attend a school, to me, and so I've chosen to throw them aside in order to make the best choices for receiving the education I think I deserve.

I revised this to make it more efficient, but actually I still sort of think this is not working as an intro. Why mention location and weather at all?

But Evanston appeals to me for deeper reasons, it's where my father is from. ---This is a kind of run on sentence called a comma splice.

Here, I found it.... this is it! Evanston is a romanticized link to the past for me, and this is the first reason I want to attend Northwestern. ----This should be the first sentence of the essay, I think, Ben. :-)

Then, you can give some explanation, and then end the first paragraph with a sentence that captures the main idea of the essay, which MUST be focused on your main goal fur the near future (not just to get a particular kind of degree, but to get a particular kind of degree as a means to a specific end that is part of the theme of the essay.)


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