School Target

Surprisingly, most students find this topic difficult to write about. If you have chosen to apply to an institution based upon its ranking in a popular magazine or because your parents told you to, you may have to spend some time thinking deeply about exactly what it is that makes this particular institution right for you.

A main point of these questions is to see if you care enough about the college or university to have researched it beyond what anyone could have read in its marketing literature or on its web page. Knowing yourself—your passions, skills, and goals—can go a long way in helping you answer School Target questions. If you see yourself as an aspiring journalist and are applying to a school that can help you land a coveted internship writing for the Washington Post, you can discuss how you plan to make it as the editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. If you want to be a social worker and are applying to a university in a large urban area, you can talk about how the geographic location will provide ample opportunity for your involvement in community outreach programs. However, make sure to show how and why that particular school offers what others do not.