Common Mistakes – “Why Us?” Mistake #1: Writing about the school's size, location, reputation, weather, or ranking. Why shouldn’t you do this? Because that's what many other students are writing about and you don’t want to blend in. Take a hint from Emory University, whose “Why us?” prompt used to read:
Many students decide to apply to Emory University based on our size, location, reputation, and yes, the weather. Besides these valid reasons as a possible college choice, why is Emory University a particularly good match for you? Or check out Georgia Tech’s old prompt:
Beyond rankings, location, and athletics, why are you interested in attending Georgia Tech? Clearly their admissions readers are tired of reading about those things.
