Do colleges really want students to be honest when they ask "Why Michigan?" etc. If I were a student, here's how I'd be tempted to answer.
Dear Admissions Officer . . . Why your college? Well, the honest answer has to be that I’m playing the averages. Since previous years’ statistics and an upward popularity trend tell us that nationally respected MT programs attract anywhere from 400 to 1000 applicants, it makes no sense for me, as a perspective student, to put all my eggs in one basket and focus only on my top choice college. If I’m going to be successful, I have to spread the love. So here is how I came up with your college as one of my choices. I made a spreadsheet of college characteristics, such as size, type, region, teacher-student ratio, tuition, scholarships, emphasis of training, academic requirements, and a gazillion other factors. Since few statistics existed, I made as best an assessment as I could of my likelihood of acceptance. I made attempts to visit colleges of each general type, all the while trying not to become too enamored of any of them. I figured out how much money I could reasonably spend on apps without going broke. Let’s say I decided on 15. From there, my first three votes went to the schools that ticked most of my boxes and that I figured were most likely to accept me; the second three went on schools within reasonable geographic distance; the next three went to schools auditioning at my nearest Unifieds so that I could save on audition cost. Three more went to schools with low tuition/good scholarship potential. Three votes left—one to a “lottery school”, just in case I happen to be the needle-in-the-haystack they want; one to a non-audition safety that I would really rather not attend; and the last? Well, how about throwing an arrow at the spreadsheet and just see where it lands? Congrats! You made my top 15! So, let’s see. Why do I want to attend your college? Be wary, Admissions Officer, of asking the question if you want a truthful answer. I may just as well regurgitate the college catalog or rave for 500 words about how much I love the football team. The question just does not make any sense when referring to the crap shoot of MT applications.If you really want to know about a student, ask a different question!
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