Why is the “Why this college?” question so important? Colleges care about why students listed their school, and many colleges incorporate the “why” question into their applications.

While most students find themselves having to write a variety of essays for different colleges, the typical student will focus almost exclusively on the Common Application essay or a college’s Personal Statement. Frequently they think they’re done with their application, and then they go to hit “submit” and find out that the college wants them to write another essay telling them why they want to attend.

These are usually the worst essays imaginable. Students don’t know how to distinguish themselves and consequently end up writing about football, Greek life and the weather. UNC-Wilmington got so tired of students saying they wanted to come to Wilmington for the sunny climate that a few years ago their prompt was “Tell us why you want to come to UNC Wilmington, besides the beach!” This year Georgia Tech’s prompt gets even more specific when they ask students to respond to: “Beyond rankings, location and athletics, why are you interested in attending Georgia Tech?”

I suggest that students imagine themselves as director of admissions at a college and choosing who to accept and who to deny. What would you want to read about in a “why this college?” essay? Once you are looking at the prompt from their perspective, it’s easy to see why droning on and on about the sense of spirit in the stadium won’t set you apart.

Colleges want students who want to be there for the academics. Students need to demonstrate that they’ve done their homework on the college website. How does this specific college differ from others on your list? Are their multidisciplinary majors appealing? Are there study abroad opportunities that appeal to you? Is their commitment to an honor code something that speaks to you?

What are some things that colleges don’t want to read about?

Students often fall prey to regurgitating college facts and trivia that they read in guidebooks. Don’t tell colleges what they already know about themselves. Colleges really don’t like it when students suggest that they can make a lot of money after they graduate, or that with an undergraduate degree from their school they’ll be able to get into a top-notch graduate school.

Make sure your final “why this college?” essay is not an essay that you can multipurpose and use for other colleges. Be specific about identifying why each college is a good fit for you. It’s very easy for a college to determine which students have put in the effort on this essay.