Is it not in my best interest to write a pretty straightforward, but sincere "why I want to go to this college" paper under topic of choice?
It wasn't an option...but I was hoping it was.
You mean for your commonapp essay?
yes
**need more characters**
Well, first of all, the commonapp essay goes to EVERY college you're applying to (hence, "common" app) so it wouldn't make sense to to write an essay that is specific to one college. And second, I would just stick with one of the prompts they give you, unless you have and idea that is totally and completely unique and can't be touched upon through one of the other prompts. In any case, most colleges have a sort of "why are you applying to this college" prompt as their supplemental essay anyway, so you'd have to focus your commonapp essay on something different. And don't write an essay on why you want to go to college in general because i'm assuming you want to go to college to pursue some higher knowledge, to define your own identity, to discover some new meaning to your life, to find some sort of path to the truth, to forge within the smithy of your soul the uncreated conscience of your race, etc, (well maybe not that last one).
So, in short, it would not be in your best interest to write a "why you want to go this college" sort of essay. Try writing something engaging and interesting that will capture the soul of the reader in beauteous rapture. Something like that.
I would suggest not to.
Once you submit an essay, the same identical essay is used for every other institution that you decide to apply to. If you happened to mention "Upenn" in a part of your "why this college essay," it would be a hassle to send your applications to other schools because you would need to "create a new version/modify" your essay for other schools.
Personally, I think it is better to write something unique about you. However, if you feel comfortable writing a why this college essay, that by all means, do it!
The trick is to come up with a theme to write about, but SECRETLY have as your ulterior motive the intention to express why you want to go to this college.
This is not because it is an inappropriate topic; I suggest this because you can write a powerful essay if it achieves two things at once. So, write something brilliant, a topic that concerns you and makes you want to do something meaningful in life, and in order to do that you need to attend this college because it is perfect for you in some way.
:-)
Thanks for asking this very good question!
