The Application Process

I am writing an essay for a school and the school has specific questions such as they want to know why I am applying to their school and how their school will help me meet my career/personal goals.

Can I include a comparison of other schools including their names in this essay to say why I prefer this school? I have done a lot of research on the courses/faculty of few other schools too...so does it make sense to actually name those other schools in this essay ?

nehs wrote:I am writing an essay for a school and the school has specific questions such as they want to know why I am applying to their school and how their school will help me meet my career/personal goals.

Can I include a comparison of other schools including their names in this essay to say why I prefer this school? I have done a lot of research on the courses/faculty of few other schools too...so does it make sense to actually name those other schools in this essay ?

Can you? Yes sure... Should you? 100% no... IN MY OPINION

It would be like me writing an essay saying:
"I like the color Blue because I don't like the color Black"
"Your school X is a good fit for me because school Y is not a good fit for me."

There is too much valuable real estate in application essays do not waste any of it on another school

That's just my opinion though!

I agree with money9111. In addition, there's just too much risk of it coming off as negative or bashing another school, even if that's not your intent. However, you can still use the information you've gained from other schools to focus on what you like about the school you're applying to. As a basic example, if the large class size of school X was a turn-off for you, focus on how you think the small class size of school Y will be an asset in school Y's essay.

Money9111,southbaynic...Thanks for the note..it helped me at the right time..I'm just making my essay ready..

I agree with everything that the posters giving advice thus far have said, but I would add one thing:

Make sure you really know why the school you are writing about is an excellent fit for you.

The fact that you were tempted to call out other schools and why they are not a fit for you makes me wonder if you are grasping for something to say. You say that you have done a lot of research about the schools you are interested in, and I would suggest supplementing that research with speaking with actual alumni or current students of those schools.

A great way to find those folks is through LinkedIn where you can do an Advanced People Search and search by school, industry, firm, etc. I suggest contacting people that you have some kind of affinity with (same undergrad, same country of origin, etc.) and sending them a VERY SHORT email to reach out. I'm actually training my coaching clients in these networking strategies next month to strengthen their applications.

Good luck!
Kaneisha

That was a good point - I have contacted some current alumni already but I wanted to talk to some professors too. May be I can find them too through LinkedIn, isn't it? But, I don't know what to mail them
I've already done some research with Current students though

I'll probably do a webinar on this exact situation soon. Sign up for my newsletter here (https://theartofapplying.com/join-my-newsletter/) so you don't miss out on when I do it!

Kaneisha Grayson wrote:I'll probably do a webinar on this exact situation soon. Sign up for my newsletter here (https://theartofapplying.com/join-my-newsletter/) so you don't miss out on when I do it!

Thanks

Should I include a few lines about my knowledge/proficiency in foreign languages (such as Spanish,French, German etc)in my essay?