Why Tulane Essay: "finding a school that shares your values"

my top choice of school from the first glance

Throughout my college search, one thing became very apparent to me: Finding a school that shares your values is incredibly difficult. When I found that Tulane cares about community service so much that it has become part of the curriculum, I was blown away. I have always been passionate about helping others, and service has been a large influence in my life. Being able to give back to a community as culturally rich as New Orleans would be a dream come true.

With the culture of New Orleans comes a lot of diversity, which we don't see a lot of in Indiana. The student body at Tulane would allow me to learn from people of all kinds of backgrounds. Furthermore, the ratio of students to teachers ensures that among all of the opinions and ideas, my voice will still be heard. When I visited, the sense of community was almost tangible, even over the summer.

I also appreciate the flexibility that Tulane offers. Being able to take classes from any of the 5 schools would make it possible to not only explore my current interests, but to develop new interests. The opportunities for undergraduate research provide an even more enriching educational experience. I love that Tulane does not expect me to have my life figured out at 17 years old, but gives me the chance to discover what I want to do.

Tulane was my top choice of school from the first glance. It embodies everything that I want in a school - a commitment to community service, diversity, and countless chances to explore and experiment.

This is my first draft, and the word count is currently at 265. What can I expand on? Am I addressing the right things?

Molly, you have pretty much addressed everything that relates to your personal goals in choosing a university. What is lacking at the moment is your academic goal in relation to your choice of university. Sure Tulane allows you to learn in an open setting, without any class restrictions. That could also mean that you will be a permanent fixture at the university because you do not have any academic ambition.

Even as you enjoy the open educational system, you need to be able to relate all of those studies with an academic goal on your part. What do you look forward to learning at the university or each of the 5 buildings and why? If you haven't chosen a major yet then work that into the academic goal. Explain that you have 5 different interests that you look forward to pursuing at the university with the hopes of having a solid academic goal by the time you reach your junior year. That way you imply that you have academic goals, you just need to understand each area you have chosen to figure out which one you want to be certified in through a graduation certificate.

At 265 words, you don't need to worry about going over the word count. In fact, I insist that you write more than the maximum so that you will have enough room to play around in during the drafting process. You will find that writing more words will be better than writing just the write number of words.