Drawing a blank on Essay prompt (is there an outline?)

Hello

For one of my business school essays, I have to answer the question "Why do you want to pursue this graduate program at ____________? and I really do not know how to start or end this essay. Is there any outline I can follow

I know I want to go to the school because it has a stellar reputation in my concentration area, and I need a change of environment but I can say all these in a paragraph!

Help!!!!

Yes! For every essay, keep in mind that you are leading the reader's attention. So, grab the attention by starting off with something interesting. Then, make your main point at the end of the first paragraph -- what do you stand for... what is your drive to succeed in this program?

Use the middle paragraphs to give anecdotes or highlight your aspirations and achievements, and then at the end go back and reflect on that main theme again. What is your central truth, the thing that drives you? Start and finish with the same fascinating and inspirational idea for which you stand.

Freewriting is one way. Start by writing down every thought that comes to mind for your topic for 10 mintues straight. After your done, look over them to see if any connect and cross off the ones with the least importance to your topic.

With the ideas you are left with, give the evidence you have that supports what you are saying, providing examples, personal experiences... Describe how you know the college has a stellar rep. , and how the relocation would benefit you and your studies.

"I want to go to the school because it has a stellar reputation in my concentration area, and I need a change of environment" These are excellent reasons for wanting to go the school you are applying to. For the first reason, you would want to talk about how, exactly, the reputation is stellar. What about the university makes it really good, in your eyes? For the second reason, focus more on why your university's environment in particular would be better than your current one, rather than just talking about why you need a change (which you could get no matter which university you went to).